Introduce yourself
I’m Maraid Mcewan, an artist, designer, researcher and creative educator. My practice explores collective emotion through social impact, personal memory, and community. I work across drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography and installation, using materiality to reflect the dualities between landscape and memory. My work has taken me from rural France to the Chilean Andes, but equally, it is rooted in local communities across the UK through participatory projects and workshops. I believe art can be both a sanctuary and a shared space, ultimately a way of making sense of complex emotions and offering new tools for expression.
I hold an MA/MSc in Global Innovation Design from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, and a BA in Textiles from the University of Leeds. I’ve exhibited at the V&A, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and internationally in France and Chile. I also work extensively with young people, Special Educational Needs groups and communities, creating collaborative programmes that centre art as a form of empowerment, care, and connection.
Tell us more about your practice
At its core, my practice investigates emotional landscapes; how our internal experiences mirror the geographies we inhabit. I often work site-specifically, creating ephemeral sculptures from natural or salvaged materials that echo the fragility of memory, belief, and belonging. Through recent residencies in Chile, Spain and Scotland, and my ongoing project La Dualidad, I explore the intersections of indigenous spirituality and Catholicism, using symbolism and material processes to question what we hold sacred.
Alongside this, my role as a creative educator is integral. I design and lead participatory workshops that encourage people and young audiences to reflect on their inner lives using visual language. Whether it’s foil and clay forms of emotional creativity at the V&A, or co-created sound toolkits in Poplar, my work seeks to build inclusive and accessible spaces for reflection, curiosity and play.
Why did you want to work on the BRIDGES project?
Cambridge is a city of bridges: between cultures, histories and communities, but it is also the most unequal city in the UK. I was immediately drawn to the BRIDGES project for its commitment to addressing that disparity by nurturing young people’s voices and using art as a transformative tool. The quote from a past participant “I feel like I will go home and reach for art for myself when I need it” deeply resonated with me. That is exactly what I strive for in my own practice: to make art something personal, intuitive, and sustaining.
I see BRIDGES as a chance to combine both strands of my work: artistic research and community engagement, into something responsive and impactful. I want to work with young people in Cambridge to show how creative expression can be a method of self-reflection, a confidence-builder, and a means of visibility within institutional spaces like galleries. It’s about giving emotion form, and giving form agency.
What are you looking forward to with this project?
I’m really excited to explore how we can create sculptural representations of complex emotions with young people. Making the invisible visible, and allowing young participants to see their feelings reflected in spaces that often don’t speak directly to them. I want to co-create spaces where young girls can realise their thoughts are meaningful, creative, and worthy of display.
I’m also taking a collaborative making approach: building “art wellbeing tools” together that can then be shared, taught, or passed on. These could be interactive, tactile, and communal, things that demonstrate how creativity isn’t just an individual talent, but a collective resource. This approach was informed by my work at the Young V&A and Kew Gardens, where participatory installations evolved with the group over time. I want to help participants become not just makers, but creative mentors to others.
Ultimately, I’m looking forward to the unexpected: to where the participants will take the work, how they’ll respond to the questions, and what new forms of emotional and creative connection we might bridge together.
BRIDGES
Bridges is a new and exciting programme at Kettle’s Yard for young people aged 14-19 years. It aims to empower young people, giving them confidence and agency in art spaces by using art exploration as a tool to support their personal and creative growth.
This three year programme asks the question:
“What and where do we connect to?”