Dougal Kirkland: Gunnera

About the artist

Dougal Kirkland is a Stroud-based artist whose work explores the intersections of ecology, archaeology, and the fluid identities found within wetland spaces. After studying at Goldsmiths and completing a postgraduate programme at the Royal Drawing School, where he received the 2022 ACS Drawing Prize, ge has developed a practice that moves between rigorous drawing and experimental printmaking. His work is held in the Royal Collection and has been exhibited at venues including Christie’s and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair.

His recent prints focus on the Gunnera, an exuberant, often bisexual plant that thrives in damp environments. Through this subject, Dougal celebrates the sensuality and inherent queerness of both plant and human ecologies. These works, initiated during a residency at Dumfries House, push printmaking toward a more painterly finish. He avoids the rigid constraints of the medium by combining etching and carborundum with chine collé and monotype, allowing for a layering of texture and tone that mirrors the murky, fertile environments he studies.

Dougal’s practice often extends into installation and site-specific response. His 2026 participatory project at The Wilson Museum, Whispers on the Walls, engages with the work of Paula Rego, while his involvement in the Neo Ancients festival in Stroud explores themes of ritual and vision. Whether through a solo exhibition at SVA Stroud or residencies with TOAST and the Gloucestershire Printmakers Co-op, his work remains a constant inquiry into how we perceive and inhabit the natural world over time. By documenting the "aeons" and the "earth magic" of his surroundings, Dougal bridges the gap between ancient landscapes and contemporary ecological thought.