The University of Stirling has installed 15 striking stone sculptures created by artists Hironori Katagiri and Kate Thomson.
The beautiful pieces in granite and marble are on long term loan to the University and are a wonderful addition to the University’s Art Collection, which contains over 300 pieces.
The sculptures - three by Thomson and 12 by Katagiri - are mainly located in areas in and around the Cottrell and Pathfoot buildings, not only adding to the aesthetic of the University but supporting the artistic aims of Stirling’s Campus Masterplan.
Matilda Mitchell, former Secretary of the University’s first Principal Tom Cottrell, and the first Curator of the Art Collection, alerted Stirling’s Art Curator Jane Cameron to the need for the collection of works to be re-homed from the grounds of Mellerstain House. The University was happy to step in to save the pieces for public display.
University Art Curator Jane Cameron explained: “We are delighted to have this collection on campus and the pieces are all beautiful.
“I love Thomson’s Cloud 9 located outside the Cottrell Building. The setting is perfect and it is incredible how it has lit up the space - it is quite simply stunning. Cloud 9 allows passers by to interact and Thomson encourages people to sit on it and touch it. For me it is almost like a doorway to the Art Collection.
“Katagiri’s Bijin (which means beautiful lady in Japanese) installed outside the entrance to Pathfoot, is quietly elegant and an exciting piece for the University as it is the first time it has been seen on public display.”
She added: “This collection builds on our links with Japan and the internationalisation of the University. One of our ambitions is to dedicate each of the 17 courtyards in Pathfoot to an artist and this has started that process for us.”
Hironori Katagiri said: “We are delighted that the University has agreed to house the sculptures. My sculptures span three decades of work and reflect the ideas I was developing during that time. I wanted to show what you can create with a material such as stone and the interesting elements of space and shape they create.
“One of the first sculptures I created when I came to Scotland, titled June 21st 1985, sits next to the loch on the University Campus and this is one of my favourite pieces, so it has been nice to return to Stirling again.”
Japanese artist Hironori Katagiri came to Scotland in the mid-1980s, to work at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Aberdeenshire where he met and married Edinburgh artist Kate Thomson. The couple actively promote sculpture in Scotland and Japan and have a workshop in Edinburgh.