Tori McLean

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Why? What if? How come? Can I? Should I?

 

The persistent questions of childhood - curious, fearless, insistent - form the foundation of Tori McLean’s interdisciplinary artistic practice. Working across print, sculpture, and installation, McLean channels this spirit of enquiry into a material-led exploration of value: how it is assigned, perceived, and felt, both personally and culturally.

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Her work sits at the intersection of thinking and making. Printmaking, for McLean, is not merely a method of reproduction but a dynamic, conceptual space - an active, thinking partner. She uses its textures, repetitions, and processes to reflect on themes such as identity, gendered experience, female agency, and the often-unspoken forces that shape who we’re allowed to become. This way of working transforms the medium from passive surface to participatory encounter, inviting viewers to challenge conventional assumptions and reflect more deeply on what they see and feel.

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Rooted in experimentation and material curiosity, McLean’s practice draws on the joyful language of childhood play - the tactility of toys, the delight of invention, the instinct to question everything. Her works are often playful on the surface, but layered with emotional complexity. Playfulness, nostalgia, and charm become points of entry into more uncomfortable ideas and weightier subjects. The interplay between surface charm and psychological depth is a recurring strategy in her work, used to question how value is constructed and perceived.

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