Kate Davis

Kate Davis is a distinguished Teaching Professor at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in the School of Arts & Humanities, where she has taught since 2001. She was awarded an RCA Fellowship for her outstanding contribution to teaching in 2009. Davis also serves as an External Examiner at Northampton University and was invited to join the Board of Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in 2014. She maintains an independent sculpture practice and collaborates with Scottish artist David Moore under ME-WE Productions, fostering artistic exchange between the RCA sculpture program and Edinburgh College of Art.

Davis's research interests center on critical practice and art curation, with a focus on the intersection of material object, drawing, photography, video, and text-based works. Her practice explores mortality, matters of the heart, and notions of intimacy, often examining the relationship between measured and experienced time. She draws equally on philosophical concepts and emotional responses to create a formalized, invented language that pays testament to human experience. Her collaborative work with David Moore investigates ideas around authorship and the sacrifice of the ego in collaborative artworks.

Analysis of Davis's recent publications reveals a consistent exploration of interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art practice. Her work spans sculpture, drawing, photography, and text-based media, with recurring themes of mortality, intimacy, and temporal experience. The publications demonstrate strong engagement with both theoretical frameworks and practical artistic production, with particular emphasis on collaborative processes and site-specific installations. Davis's work frequently bridges philosophical concepts with emotional responses, creating a unique language that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

• RCA Fellowship for Teaching (2009)
• Sydney Water Sculpture Prize (2002)
• The first Jerwood Drawing Prize 1st prize (2001)
• The SARGANT Fellowship, British School at Rome (1998)
• Young Artist of the Year, Whitechapel Gallery (1989)
• Stanley Picker Fellow at Kingston University (1986)

Davis has supervised research students including Chang Gao and has been instrumental in establishing StudioRCA, an external project space for RCA Fine Art at Riverlight, Nine Elms in partnership with developers St James and Futurecity. She initiated a student exchange between the University of Edinburgh and RCA, which was promoted to Senior Tutor in 2014. Her major commissions include the Belonging installation at Langdon Park Station for the Dockland Light Railway and the LightHouse commission at Riverlight, a five-acre site development by Rogers and Stark architects.

Davis works closely with the Sites & Situations Research Cluster at RCA, which considers physical territories and political contexts through contemporary art practice and interdisciplinary exchange. Her collaborative work with David Moore under ME-WE Productions has produced significant installations, including major commissions for the Dockland Light Railway and Riverlight development, demonstrating her commitment to integrating artistic practice with public space and community engagement.