Christine Borland, Artist Who Researched Histories of Science and Medicine, Dies at 60
Scottish artist Christine Borland, known for research-driven work engaging forensic science, medical history, and human genetics, died on Sunday at age 60 after cancer; her death was confirmed by Patricia Fleming Gallery in Glasgow. Borland was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1997 for work exploring “creation and destruction” through institutional scientific and forensic analysis, according to Tate Britain. Her projects included “From Life” (Tramway, Glasgow, 1994), which began with purchasing a female skeleton and tracing collaborations with forensic and reconstruction experts to produce a bronze portrait, and “To the Power of Twelve” (Mount Stuart, 2018), incorporating materials such as more than 400 hand-blown glass spheres and a silk army parachute stuffed with sphagnum moss. Born in 1965 in Darvel, Ayrshire, she studied at the Glasgow School of Art and earned an MFA from the University of Ulster in 1988, later teaching at Northumbria University and helping found the Cultural Negotiation of Science research group; her career included nearly 60 solo exhibitions and more than 200 group exhibitions and events.
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