13 Facts About Elaine Shemilt

Elaine Shemilt was born on 7 May 1954 and is a British artist and researcher especially known as a fine art printmaker.

Between 1960 and 1972, Shemilt grew up in Craigavad, County Down in Northern Ireland.

Elaine Shemilt attended non-denominational Bloomfield Collegiate School and Victoria College, Belfast during The Troubles where her experiences motivated her to develop the themes of conflict, censorship and psychological constraint in her work.

Elaine Shemilt is a graduate of the Winchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art.

Elaine Shemilt has exhibited internationally including in Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, USA, Australia, Italy and Germany.

Elaine Shemilt was a pioneer of early feminist video and multi-media installation work alongside her fellow artist and friend Helen Chadwick, who selected her for the Hayward Annual in 1979.

Elaine Shemilt is retired from academia but remains Professor Emerita of fine art printmaking and a professional member and former President of the Society of Scottish Artists and was its president from March 2007 until 2010.

Elaine Shemilt was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2000 and of the Royal Geographical Society in 2009.

Elaine Shemilt is a trustee and vice chair of the South Georgia Heritage Trust established to promote the environmental protection and habitat restoration of South Georgia Island, a natural wilderness in the Southern Atlantic.

In 1998 Elaine Shemilt was invited to lead a project to improve the environment of the military base on the Falkland Isles by the then commander, Brigadier David Nicholls.

Elaine Shemilt is a contemporary artist, whose practice in recent years has turned more and more to environment activism.

Elaine Shemilt collaborated with the Regius Professor Michael Ferguson and the architect Jo White.

Elaine Shemilt was featured in Gabriel Schor's book, The Feminist Avant Garde, Art from the 1970s in 2016 and 2nd Edition in 2022.