Deirdre Nicholls

Deirdre Nicholls is a sculptor and watercolorist working in bronze, plaster and resin.
Her current work focuses on rare and endangered UK farm animals, using colour, scale and form to draw attention to overlooked species and to slow the viewer’s perception of what is seen.
Working from sustained observation, she develops figurative and animal forms through drawing and modelling into three-dimensional work that balances physical accuracy with psychological presence.
Nicholls' drawing and watercolour practice informs her approach to structure, gesture and surface.
Her work is held in public and private collections in the UK and internationally, and she has exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Ulster Academy. She lives and works in the Scottish Borders.

BA (Hons), Sculpture & Printmaking — Winchester School of Art
PGCE — University of Sussex
MBA — Open University
MA– Classical Studies — Open University

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2025 Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition, Paisley Art Institute Annual Exhibition (Sculpture Prize)
2024 Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Compass Gallery
2023 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The Scottish Gallery
2022 Cookham Arts Festival, Olney Park Sculpture Exhibition

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
2013 Beyond Surface: Portrait Heads, Summerhall, Edinburgh

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS and COMMISSIONS

Glasgow City Chambers — Bust of Nelson Mandela
University of Edinburgh — Bust of Professor Sir Tim O’Shea
University of Edinburgh Business School — Bust of Ian Rushbrook
University of Edinburgh — Bust of Frank Rushbrook CBE
The Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh — Heraldic Shields

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

The Robert Burns Association, Georgia, USA — Bust of Robert Burns
Edinburgh Burns Society — Bust of Robert Burns
Edinburgh Corn Exchange — Bust of Bert Demarco