Diane Maclean

Diane Maclean was born in London of Scottish descent. She studied modern languages at the University College, London (1956-59) and lived abroad, mainly in Africa, between 1961 and 1976. Throughout the 1970s she had many portrait commissions in Europe, America and Canada, then in 1980 she entered Hertfordshire College of Art and Design (1980-85) to study sculpture.

Her inclusion in the New Contemporaries exhibition in 1986 launched her current career, and since then she has participated in many shows in Britain, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and Japan. Choosing to work outside the commercial gallery system has meant that she has made her way in the realm of public commissions and temporary installations. These can be found in places as diverse as Dundee (2005), University of Guelph, Canada (2004) and most recently Mountain (2005-6), commissioned for the Natural History Museum and now sited at the University of Hertfordshire. Maclean enjoys the challenge of new materials, which she employs through her response to natural phenomena. This may appear contradictory, but the connections between industrial materials and the natural world provide many starting points in her sculptures. She is currently working on a lighting project in Glenmore Forest, Cairngorms, as part of the Highland Year of Culture, in 2007. Diane Maclean's sculptures are in many public collections in Scotland, England, Wales, Canada and Finland, where she has recently been Lecturer in Environmental Art at the Helsinki Fine Art Academy. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1998 and is a Professional Member of the Society of Scottish Artists. She lives and works in St. Albans.