Mia Mckechnie

“From Our Family to Yours”

My practice this year has mainly focused on installation, using collected vintage furniture, domestic objects and interiors, largely from the 1980s, to construct spaces that feel familiar, lived in and emotionally recognisable. I’m interested in how atmosphere is created through the arrangement of objects, furniture and sound, and how small shifts in placement can completely alter the feeling of a room and the way a work is experienced.

Sound plays an important role within my installations. I’m interested in how it can exist within domestic environments, and how placing sound in different areas of a space can subtly shape mood, memory and emotional response. Through experimenting with layout, furniture grouping and sound placement, I explore how installations can encourage viewers to feel comfort, nostalgia, curiosity or familiarity, while also drawing attention to the details and rituals that make a space feel inhabited.

Scottish culture, humour and tradition are important influences within both my research and practical work. I’m drawn to the ways these qualities appear through ordinary interiors, everyday objects and shared domestic experiences. From seasonal decorations and familiar living room arrangements to small cultural references, I’m interested in how identity, memory and place can become embedded within environments that might initially seem ordinary.

My research is also informed by archival processes, collecting and domestic histories. Through gathering furniture, objects, sounds and references, I approach installation as a way of building environments that sit between documentation, memory and reconstruction.

Ultimately, I hope my installations offer viewers a sense of warmth, recognition and permission to slow down within the space. I’m interested in creating environments that feel approachable and human, where viewers may find personal memories, cultural familiarity, humour, comfort, or moments of reflection through the experience of an everyday interior.