About
Biography
Celeste MacLeod-Brown (b.2004, Edinburgh) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, curator, and researcher. Her work tends to focus on overlaps between disciplines, generally concerned with event-based enquiry, curatorial knowledge, and feminist methods, and in 2023 she founded the curatorial initiative Naive Set Arts.
In 2024, Celeste was awarded the British Council Venice Biennale Fellowship, enabling her spend an extended period working at the Biennale and conducting curatorial research across Venice. The same year she also received the EAF x The Skinny Emerging Writers Award, and now contributes to the magazine on a freelance basis. She has shown and curated work across scotland, and internationally, and has held professional positions such as Production and Events Coordinator for Edinburgh Art Festival and Creative Associate at Hidden Door Festival. Celeste recently graduated from the Glasgow School of Art, with a first class BA(Hons.) in Sculpture and Environmental art. She is now continuing directly into postgraduate research on the Goldsmiths UOL Advanced Practices Programme.
Artist Statement
Drawing on various modes of cultural production, my practice is primarily concerned with untangling ideas surrounding emotion and embodiment as they are situated within socio-political and institutional contexts. Through research into feminist and queer methodologies, particularly those related to affect theory and autotheory, I borrow from multiple disciplines to develop and apply reconfigured understandings of these ideas, often in relation to art-world structures.
I work predominantly with slippery and indeterminate realms of understanding, with a particular interest in the potential of alternative and affective modes of research. As such, I am drawn to mediums that share these qualities: writing, film, and audio tend to form the core of my practice. More specifically, the structural forms of the essay, autobiography, and ‘performing the self’ frequently shape how the work itself develops.
My practice is also deeply informed by first-hand experience working within the arts and cultural sector. I regularly explore ways to integrate institutional critique, not only into the content of the work, but also through considerations of how the work is situated within wider challenges that the arts both face and perpetuate. This is also integral to my curatorial approach, which in turn feeds back into my artistic and written practices. I often employ fictive and reflective strategies to speak through embodiment, treating personal encounters as curatorial situations, for example, to explore what individual experience might reveal about collective conditions.
CV
[Full/tailored CV available on request]
Education
Goldsmiths, University of London: MRes - Master of Research Advanced Practices (Curatorial/Knowledge), Exp graduation: 2027
Glasgow School of Art: BA(Hons.) Sculpture and Environmental Art — First Class, 2025
Selected Professional Experience
Independent Curator, Founder, Naive Set; Curatorial Collective, Scotland, Oct 2023-present
International Industry Coordinator, Festivals Edinburgh, Jul 2025-present
Arts Writer, The Skinny; Freelance, Scotland, Apr 2024-present
Programme Producing and Partnerships Support, Never Go Out; Glasgow, Scotland, Jan - Apr 2025
Co-Researcher, Tialt // there is an alternative; Freelance, Scotland, Oct 2024- Apr 2025
Production and Events Coordinator, Edinburgh Art Festival; Edinburgh, Scotland, 2024
Venice Biennale Research Fellow and Exhibition Ambassador, British Council; Venice, Italy, 2024
Consultant (Academic Development), Glasgow School of Art; Glasgow, Scotland, 2024
Programme Assistant, Edinburgh Art Festival; Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug-Sept 2023
Creative Associate, Hidden Door Festival; Edinburgh, Scotland, Mar-Aug 2023
Archivist, EMBASSY Gallery; Edinburgh, Scotland, Apr-May 2023
Events Assistant, Glasgow Film Festival; Glasgow, Scotland, Mar 2023
Festival Assistant, Hidden Door Festival; Edinburgh, Scotland, 2022-23
Festival Assistant, Summerhall; Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug 2022
Exhibition & Invigilation Coordinator, Leith School of Art; Edinburgh, Scotland, Jun 2022
Awards & Honors
Fine Art Critical Studies Dissertation Prize, Glasgow School of Art, 2025
Emerging Writers Award, EAF X The Skinny, 2024
Venice Biennale Research Fellowship and Travel Grant, British Council, 2024
Curatorial Grant, Glasgow School of Art. 2023
Talks, Conferences, and Performances
Palimpsest Issue 3 Launch, The Alchemy Experiment, Glasgow, 2025 [Reading]
Venice Fellowship Induction Programme, British Council, 2025 [Talk]
Re:Present, The Vic, Glasgow, 2024 [Artist Talk]
Key Publications
The Skinny: ‘DJCAD Degree Show Review’ - 2025
Curatorial Ethics Network, ‘First-Person Curating’ - 2025
Palimpsest Issue 3: ‘Figure’: “Figurative Embodiment” - 2025
The Skinny: ‘Prem Sahib’s Alleus at Edinburgh Art Festival’ - 2024
The Skinny: ‘Emerging Talent at Edinburgh Art Festival’ - 2024
The Skinny: GSA Degree Show Supplement - 2024
GSA Archives & Collections: S.P.A.N.K: Is this your art school? - 2024
An Active Archival: Dialogues & Documents, Naive Set Arts - 2023
Press & Features
The Skinny: ‘Edinburgh Art Festival: Platform 2024 Preview’, Harvey Dimond - 2024
Frieze: ‘The Best Shows to See During Glasgow International’, Lou Selfridge - 2024
Additional Positions & Memberships
Member, Curatorial Ethics Network, 2025-present
Member, British Art Network, 2024-present
Member, Academic Council, Glasgow School of Art, 2023-24
Member, Board of Trustees, Glasgow School of Art Students’ Association, 2022-24