Margot Wilson, Interdisciplinary Artist
Margot Wilson is a London/Surrey-based Scottish artist interested in the agency of breath and dreaming in performance art and creating site-specific immersive installations that range from examining body dysmorphia to the relationship between oil and war as a poetics of failure. Following her recovery from bulimia nervosa in the 1980’s and in tandem with careers in television and technology, and academic and art studies, her life has been devoted to Eastern spiritual and esoteric research and astrology With degrees in philosophy and art Wilson’s practice investigates the bio-electric body and poly vagal neuroscience as highways of agency in consciousness and dreaming. Wilson’s research Intersects Buddhist impermanence and emergence theories as the eternal returning breath and fluid Mobius surface topographies including: the spiral nature of energy as Yeats’ ‘gyre that will not hold’, disk-spiral galaxies that breathe, levitating kundalini energy, and bio-electricity's role in generation of internal light. In 2005 she developed breathing and hypnagogic visualisation techniques that re-situate breath induced vivid dreams and she continues to explore immersive and improvisational breathing practices as ‘orchestral space holding’ with Breath Quartet @breathquartet, a collaboration of students and external artists committed to improvised rituals that honour the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.
Academic
MA Contemporary Art Practice Royal College of Art, London (2024)
Graduate Diploma - Fine Art - A* DISTINCTION. Royal College of Art, London (2023)
MA Writing, Royal College of Art, London (2022) (see RCA webpage)
MA Creative Writing (Poetry & Theatre), University of Sheffield (2017)
MPhil Philosophy (Research) University of Glasgow (2016)
BA (Hons) Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London (2013)
Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training (2018)
BHSAI Equestrian Instructor (1980)
Graduate Diploma - Fine Art - A* DISTINCTION. Royal College of Art, London (2023)
MA Writing, Royal College of Art, London (2022) (see RCA webpage)
MA Creative Writing (Poetry & Theatre), University of Sheffield (2017)
MPhil Philosophy (Research) University of Glasgow (2016)
BA (Hons) Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London (2013)
Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training (2018)
BHSAI Equestrian Instructor (1980)
Exhibitions
2024 Infinity of Breath (video), Tate Lates, Tate Modern, London
2024 Unborn Horses (audio), Tate Lates, Tate Modern, London
2024 Venus Resurrection (sculpture installation), Out of Reach: The Enigma of Consciousness, Art in the Docks Gallery, London
2024 Crossing: Death the Horizontal (video), CAP @ Genesis Cinema, Whitechapel, London
2024 Ion Eater Mould Brick (sculpture), Everything Must Go, MAFA RCA/Chelsea, Cookhouse Gallery, Chelsea School of Art
2024 Poetics of Failure (Installation), Prophecies of Extinction, Royal College of Art CAP Gallery, London
2023 Lament for Gaia (video), Over and Under, RCA/HSBC Exhibition, Canary Wharf, London
2023 The Bi-Handed Artist’s Studio (video installation), Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
2023 Divining Direction (Sculpture Installation), (RCA/UPRUM Collaboration Highways/Mindways), Czech Centre, London
2023 How Can We Use Bi-Handed Drawing, Breath, and Sound to Investigate Cyclical Spiral Energy? Science of Consciousness, Taormina, Italy
2022 Sculpture (fired clay), (Exhibiting with Tammy Walters), Eden Gallery, Newburgh, England
2022 Ariel I (sculpture-fired clay,) Green and Stone Summer Exhibition, London
2022 Chelsea Art Society, London
2021 Towards Levitation (sculpture-fired clay),Thrown Contemporary Winter Exhibition, Online
2021 Various artworks, RCA Winter Fair, London
2021 Oneiric Horses (sculpture-fired clay), Art & Cavallo, Jury's Special Mention, Verona, Italy
2017 Breath Induced ‘Vivid Dreaming’ (BIVD:) Soma-Neuro-Immersive (SNI) Breath Work for Release of Soma-Neuro Holding Patterns, RCPSYCH Poster Presentation: Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress, Edinburgh
2015 Ignoring and Ignorance: Concepts of Positive and Negative Ignoring in Early Buddhist Teachings and Correlates in Neuroscience, TSC Poster Presentation, Towards a Science of Consciousness, Helsinki
2001 War Horse (sculpture), Equestrian Art Society, Mall Gallery, London
1992 Sunflowers in Arles (oil paintings), Blenheim Gallery, London
2024 Unborn Horses (audio), Tate Lates, Tate Modern, London
2024 Venus Resurrection (sculpture installation), Out of Reach: The Enigma of Consciousness, Art in the Docks Gallery, London
2024 Crossing: Death the Horizontal (video), CAP @ Genesis Cinema, Whitechapel, London
2024 Ion Eater Mould Brick (sculpture), Everything Must Go, MAFA RCA/Chelsea, Cookhouse Gallery, Chelsea School of Art
2024 Poetics of Failure (Installation), Prophecies of Extinction, Royal College of Art CAP Gallery, London
2023 Lament for Gaia (video), Over and Under, RCA/HSBC Exhibition, Canary Wharf, London
2023 The Bi-Handed Artist’s Studio (video installation), Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
2023 Divining Direction (Sculpture Installation), (RCA/UPRUM Collaboration Highways/Mindways), Czech Centre, London
2023 How Can We Use Bi-Handed Drawing, Breath, and Sound to Investigate Cyclical Spiral Energy? Science of Consciousness, Taormina, Italy
2022 Sculpture (fired clay), (Exhibiting with Tammy Walters), Eden Gallery, Newburgh, England
2022 Ariel I (sculpture-fired clay,) Green and Stone Summer Exhibition, London
2022 Chelsea Art Society, London
2021 Towards Levitation (sculpture-fired clay),Thrown Contemporary Winter Exhibition, Online
2021 Various artworks, RCA Winter Fair, London
2021 Oneiric Horses (sculpture-fired clay), Art & Cavallo, Jury's Special Mention, Verona, Italy
2017 Breath Induced ‘Vivid Dreaming’ (BIVD:) Soma-Neuro-Immersive (SNI) Breath Work for Release of Soma-Neuro Holding Patterns, RCPSYCH Poster Presentation: Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress, Edinburgh
2015 Ignoring and Ignorance: Concepts of Positive and Negative Ignoring in Early Buddhist Teachings and Correlates in Neuroscience, TSC Poster Presentation, Towards a Science of Consciousness, Helsinki
2001 War Horse (sculpture), Equestrian Art Society, Mall Gallery, London
1992 Sunflowers in Arles (oil paintings), Blenheim Gallery, London
See BREATH QUARTET
Blue Meditation (Experimental Meditation Film), London (2020)
Bowery Poetry Club, New York (2017)
Bi-Handed Art Performance, New York (2009)
Performance Sculpture and Music Improvisation - Lincolnshire (2005)
Live Painting Installation - The Last Supper - Oil on Canvas, Barcelona (2002)
Blue Meditation (Experimental Meditation Film), London (2020)
Bowery Poetry Club, New York (2017)
Bi-Handed Art Performance, New York (2009)
Performance Sculpture and Music Improvisation - Lincolnshire (2005)
Live Painting Installation - The Last Supper - Oil on Canvas, Barcelona (2002)
Research
Experimental Meditation & Dreaming Research
ENTANGLEMENT PhD RESEARCH LAB, Led by Prof. Johnny Golding, Royal College of Art (2020-22, 2023-24)
Shelter: We Have Always Walked...Place, Space, and the Bio-Electric Body (current)
Breath Induced ‘Vivid Dreaming’ (BIVD:) Soma-Neuro-Immersive (SNI) Breath-Work for Release of Soma-Neuro Holding Patterns (SNHP), Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress, Edinburgh (2017)
Meditation and Ignorance: Concepts of Positive and Negative Ignoring, Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference (University of Helsinki), Finland (2015)
Elevation Towards Levitation: Tantric Meditation Practices for Pranic Elevation and Flying (ongoing)
Buddha v Superman: The Tantric 'S' in Superman (ongoing)
The Metaphysics of Astrology: 1980 - present
Prevailing Cosmos: Sleep, Dreaming, Death and Dream Yoga (ongoing)
ENTANGLEMENT PhD RESEARCH LAB, Led by Prof. Johnny Golding, Royal College of Art (2020-22, 2023-24)
Shelter: We Have Always Walked...Place, Space, and the Bio-Electric Body (current)
Breath Induced ‘Vivid Dreaming’ (BIVD:) Soma-Neuro-Immersive (SNI) Breath-Work for Release of Soma-Neuro Holding Patterns (SNHP), Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress, Edinburgh (2017)
Meditation and Ignorance: Concepts of Positive and Negative Ignoring, Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference (University of Helsinki), Finland (2015)
Elevation Towards Levitation: Tantric Meditation Practices for Pranic Elevation and Flying (ongoing)
Buddha v Superman: The Tantric 'S' in Superman (ongoing)
The Metaphysics of Astrology: 1980 - present
Prevailing Cosmos: Sleep, Dreaming, Death and Dream Yoga (ongoing)
Publications
Essays:
Travels with the Anxious Nerve: To a Funeral 45 Years Late (2022) - RCA, MA Writing
Aesthetics of Debate in Voices- To Tell A Story (1983) A dialogue between John Berger, Susan Sontag (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
Bathsheba by Day Galatea by Night (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
Ode to Number 6 (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
YEATS CONSIDERED AS THE ARCHETYPAL FOOL (2018) – MA Creative Writing (Distinction)
Title Page A Study of Ignorance: Suffering and Freedom in Early Buddhist Teachings and Parallels in Modern Neuroscience (2016) – MPhil (R)Philosophy Thesis
Marx and the Epicurean Swerve Marx and the Epicurean Swerve (2013) – BA (Hons) Philosophy Dissertation
The Good Parasite: The Human Condition (2011)
Time or Money, Not Both: A Thought Experiment (2010)
Travels with the Anxious Nerve: To a Funeral 45 Years Late (2022) - RCA, MA Writing
Aesthetics of Debate in Voices- To Tell A Story (1983) A dialogue between John Berger, Susan Sontag (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
Bathsheba by Day Galatea by Night (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
Ode to Number 6 (2021) - RCA, MA Writing
YEATS CONSIDERED AS THE ARCHETYPAL FOOL (2018) – MA Creative Writing (Distinction)
Title Page A Study of Ignorance: Suffering and Freedom in Early Buddhist Teachings and Parallels in Modern Neuroscience (2016) – MPhil (R)Philosophy Thesis
Marx and the Epicurean Swerve Marx and the Epicurean Swerve (2013) – BA (Hons) Philosophy Dissertation
The Good Parasite: The Human Condition (2011)
Time or Money, Not Both: A Thought Experiment (2010)
Creative Writing
Poetry
Chart Poems (Published Route 57, March 2017)
Chart Poems (Published The Mechanics’ Institute Review, Jan 2017)
Writer’s Block #1, Substitute (Published Bare Fiction, 2017)
Letters from Atlantis (Performed 2017 – The Bowery Poetry Club)
https://soundcloud.com/user-594868897/01_letters_from_atlantis_in_the_first_place
Spitting Mound of Venus (Published Prometheus Dreaming, 2019)
Documentary
Open Minds – Voxbox interviews – Brixton (2014)
The VREAM Project (2017/18)
Theatrical plays
The Bag (Performed London: February 2017)
Theatre of Dreams (Performed Sheffield: June 2017)
ORACLE – 90- minute stage play (2016)
Prose Fiction as Film
The Pink Footed Goose (a short film on VIMEO) (2014)
SHE – GAIA'S STORY (short film) (2014)
Fiction
The Ghost Club (2017)
Loving Susan Sontag (2018)
Chart Poems (Published Route 57, March 2017)
Chart Poems (Published The Mechanics’ Institute Review, Jan 2017)
Writer’s Block #1, Substitute (Published Bare Fiction, 2017)
Letters from Atlantis (Performed 2017 – The Bowery Poetry Club)
https://soundcloud.com/user-594868897/01_letters_from_atlantis_in_the_first_place
Spitting Mound of Venus (Published Prometheus Dreaming, 2019)
Documentary
Open Minds – Voxbox interviews – Brixton (2014)
The VREAM Project (2017/18)
Theatrical plays
The Bag (Performed London: February 2017)
Theatre of Dreams (Performed Sheffield: June 2017)
ORACLE – 90- minute stage play (2016)
Prose Fiction as Film
The Pink Footed Goose (a short film on VIMEO) (2014)
SHE – GAIA'S STORY (short film) (2014)
Fiction
The Ghost Club (2017)
Loving Susan Sontag (2018)