Briony Marshall MRSS

Born in 1974, Briony Marshall’s path to art was unconventional. After gaining a degree in Biochemistry at Oxford University, she completed a Diploma in Fine Art at the Art Academy, London, and began to use her scientific foundations to bridge the gap between science and art. Her sculptures often depict the microscopic world of molecules, with human figures representing individual atoms or DNA sequences.
‘I am very interested in the idea of art practice as research’, says Marshall, ‘and what the artist practitioner can bring to a subject that goes beyond traditional scientific research. I am interested in how you combine good art and good science without compromising either’. Marshall and her work are held in high esteem by both the arts and science worlds. In 2015, she was awarded a FIRST@108 Public Art Award and in 2016 she was selected as one of the 175 Faces of Chemistry by the Royal Chemistry Society to celebrate their 175th anniversary. In 2018, Briony completed two large-scale commissions: Layers of Bournemouth – a ‘rammed earth’ monolith on Hengitsbury Head in Bournemouth, and Barton’s Chair – a large molecular sculpture inspired by Nobel laureate Derek Barton’s chair isomer of cyclohexane, which now hangs at the heart of Tonbridge School’s new science centre. Most recently, Marshall has been shortlisted for the Leeds feminist public artwork. Marshall lives and works in London.