Duncan Cameron
Head of Art, Course Lead for BA(Hons) Drawing & Year Lead for the Falmouth IFY
I have been working with Falmouth University since 2022 and alongside my academic roles I maintain an active freelance practice in fine art, drawing, illustration and theatre. I previously worked at the University of Plymouth and for many years worked at Strode College and in Further Education since 1994.
I now live and work between Falmouth and Somerset and for 15 years I lived in Bristol with art studios at Mivart Street and Artspace, helping to develop and move the studio group into an empty former Tea Factory, now Spike Island Bristol. I worked in the 1990's as a community artist managing creative projects for Bristol Council in Withywood and was also involved with many other artist-led groups (IAN, Artery, Open City) to develop, fund and deliver arts programmes and opportunities for artists in the city. Alongside my work in education and fine art I have been a diving instructor, and have been diving for over 35 years, and have worked as a professional book illustrator, for three years with Dorling Kindersley to develop and complete the book 'Shipwreck Detective' in 2006. I also make puppets and props for theatre, have worked with the joint charities and the Theatre and Circus Fields at the Glastonbury Festival and I'm a keen beekeeper. I have maintained an active studio and exhibiting art practice for more than 30 years, work as a reportage drawing artist and develop and show new work regularly. I currently have work touring as part of the Trinity Bouy Wharf Drawing Prize 2025 and was the winner of the 8th John Ruskin Prize 2026.
In my time with Falmouth University, I have particularly enjoyed developing the @beachbeasties projects, initiating and leading on socially engaged -low carbon/high impact – creative projects for nature, a large scale form of performance sculpture practice advocating for hope and change. These large collaborative willow sculptures are shown and displayed across the Southwest and involve work with the University, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, the Poly, Falmouth Council, Surfers Against Sewage and The Shark Trust. I also run the informal ‘Drawing Folk’ group, and a group drawing exhibition about the Falmouth Folk Music scene is being planned for 2027.
External Links
Qualifications
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | MPhil Fine Art | University of Plymouth |
| 2019 | PGCAP | Plymouth University |
| 2001 | MA Fine Art | UWIC: University of Wales Institute Cardiff |
| 1993 | BA Fine Art | UWE: University of the West of England |
| 1990 | National Diploma in Art and Design / Foundation | BTEC - Norfolk Institute of Art and Design (*Now NUA) |
Honors and awards
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Winner - The 8th John Ruskin Prize 2026 |
| Silver Winner - FE Lecturer of the Year |
Research Interests
Research interests and expertise
NOTE: I'm working towards the completion of my Fine Art PhD. Should be completing this summer 2023.
Fine Art - Practice Led Phd with Plymouth University 2017-2023
The Shock of the Old – The use of anachronistic museological display methodologies in the presentation of the natural and artefactual within visual arts practice.
PhD Abstract: Why as artists do we persist with anachronistic models of display, collection and mark- making? I am researching anachronistic cultures of collecting and the accumulation and ordering of mnemonic materials in museums and those that many of us collate within sheds and attics through the lens of a sculptural art practice. With a particular focus on the use of taxidermy, diorama, natural history collection and archaeology I am interested in collapsed methodological boundaries and the potential that these liminal spaces provide for creative play, equivocal reading and message making.
These museological modes have emotional and associative worth because we link them to memories and moments, evidence of a lived experience and it is my position that the control of such materials betrays our vulnerability in the face of the inevitable entropy of all things, and by association an acknowledgement of mortality. I note that it is in the small things, the prosaic marginalia of a life lived, that the narrative is often told and am investigating the potential of the anachronistic creative device to compress or disrupt timelines.
These narrative mechanisms, as deployed by artists are playing with our interpretative functions, asking us to consider perhaps ethical, cultural or ecological factors in ways that the institutions of display habitually deflect us from. It is the very ‘out-of-time’ ness of these conventions that disrupt our assumptions and, by disabling linear readings, provide a new frame for story-telling. Knowingly deployed chronemic elements within visual arts practice can appear antithetical as they cause frictions with contemporary narratives and in so doing prompt interpretation and reappraisal.
Research topics
- Fine Art
- Museology
- Collection
- Natural History / Ecology
- Memory
- Anachronism - Taxidermy, diorama, Natural History Collection
Professional Engagement
Independent professional practice
I have worked professionally as:
- An exhibiting/selling Fine Artist - (* Next Exhibition 'Solo Show' at Wells and Mendip Museum - 21st Jan - 04th Feb 2023)
- A speaker - Art/Career/creative projects/Book festivals etc
- I make puppets for theatre performance
- I have worked professionally as an illustrator - Dorling Kindersely UK - Book - 'Shipwreck Detective' 2006
Social, community and cultural engagement
Previously based and teaching in Somerset & Bristol:
- I worked as a Community Artist - devising, planning, funding and delivering community arts projects in Withywood, Bristol - working with multiple partners and schools/education groups. 1993-1997
- I was involved as an artist and organiser with Artspace/Spike Island for 13 years - 1997-2010 & Chair of the Bristol Sculpture Shed.
- I ran community arts tours in Barton Hill in Bristol.
- Have been involved with and chair of multiple cultural/social groups.
- Bristol Open City, Artery and the Independent Artists Network (*IAN) in Bristol.
- As part of the work with IAN I was involved with significant fundraising and the management of large creative projects opening up opportunities for artists, accessing empty commercial and other properties around Bristol.
- 'Workplace' 2000 and 'diologue' 2003
- Currently I run a charity Beer Festival in Somerset as chairman, for the last 15 years - Ashcott Beerfest (*Ashcottbeerfest.org)
- I was a school governor for 11 years/vice chair Ashcott Promary School - and spent 11 years as secretary of the school PTA
Engagement with professional associations and societies
- Guild of Taxidermists
- British Sub Aqua Club
- British Beekeepers Association
