Visual artist Tori McLean Follow.Art Card

About me

Hi - I’m Tori McLean, a contemporary British artist and graduate of MA Print at the Royal College of Art and an elected member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen.

I’m interested in how we decide what has value, and how those values are shaped by the perspectives and expectations we bring to them. Much of my work explores the ways women are perceived, judged and understood, and how these expectations can cause women to be overlooked, diminished or valued for qualities that are not necessarily their own. I use familiar and often playful forms to create a sense of curiosity and invitation that contrasts with the more challenging subject matter being explored. I’m particularly interested in how different perspectives can lead us to see the same person, object or experience in very different ways.

Making is central to how I think. I combine traditional craft processes with contemporary technologies, and I’m interested in challenging the hierarchy that can place conceptual art above craft. For me, the thinking happens through the making, with materials, processes, mechanisms and decisions all contributing to the meaning of a work.

I’ve exhibited nationally and internationally, with work held in the collections of the Royal College of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Hampshire Cultural Trust, as well as private collections in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. I was a recipient of the 2025/26 Travers Smith Art Prize and I’m currently a finalist in the Visual Art Open 2026.

I work from my studio in Winchester, where I make, experiment and develop new ideas. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange a studio visit.

If you would like to support my practice, contributions through Follow.Art are very gratefully received. Every donation helps me continue making new work, experimenting with ideas and sharing it with wider audiences.

Thank you for being here and taking an interest in my work. I hope you’ll follow along and see where the next idea takes me.