The Origins of Objects at Mount Stuart
Susan Mansfield, The Scotsman
July 2026
Less than a month after the opening of the show they curated for Scotland + Venice at the Venice Biennale, the team from Mount Stuart were back home on Bute hosting an opening for Veronica Ryan, the latest artist to be invited to respond to the house, grounds, collection and history. Ryan, a sculptor who won the Turner Prize in 2022, is one of a generation of Black women artists receiving long overdue recognition for their work, and her sensitivity towards materials and keen ear for stories makes her ideally suited to explore this neo-gothic house full of art, objects and craftsmanship. Ryan’s interventions are quiet and subtle. Take the pale pink ottoman in the Lady Bute bedroom – it looks like it’s part of the furnishings, until you look more closely and see that the buttons are not buttons but tiny pockets of seeds wrapped in lace. Or the cushion on the bed, delicately decorated with lace and seeds, or the pillar of pink Himalayan salt which looks almost like a marble ornament. […]