Dean Jones is a Masters student of Contemporary Art Practice at the Glasgow School of Art. His practice explores queer intimacy through painting and textile processes, working with domestic materials such as tablecloths, doileys and bedsheets. His interest focuses on forms of expressions of queer eroticism through feeling, materiality and gesture.
By painting and stitching onto vintage domestic textiles, he aims to explore how queerness leaves emotional traces, marks of touch, softness and care which are embedded into the fabric itself. 

See Dean’s work as part of our annual winter open call exhibition, TRACES, showcasing works inspired by the marks that we leave in our wake: footprints in the snow, the enduring warmth of an embrace, the hollow left in the seat of your favourite armchair.

Hi Dean! Can you tell us how you arrived at the theme of your work?
When I was a teenager, I was really drawn to making work about my experience with gender roles. While studying my undergrad at DJCAD I was introduced to queer theory for the first time. From there my interests into combing queer theory and making has only grown. Now I’m really interested in examining how affect theory and themes of the erotic.

How has your practice changed over time?
Originally, I went to college to study printmaking, but I found didn’t connect much with the medium. While at DJCAD, I was randomly printing on textiles and which I really liked. I liked that textiles helped the prints feel almost sculptural in a way that paper prints don’t. This led me to trying out other textile processes such as embroidery, beading and painting on textiles.

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
I think the most important thing to make sure you’re enjoying what you do. I think it is easy to mirror what you see other people doing, or making what you think other people would like. But at the end of the day, there’s no joy in being an artist if you don’t feel fulfilled by what you’re making.

Are there specific advantages or challenges associated with working in your chosen mediums? Have you experimented with other mediums or techniques?
The main advantage to working with vintage textiles such as doilies and tablecloths, which is good because they’re cheap and easily accessible. Other materials such as canvas or linen can get really expensive, especially when working on a larger scale, and so I feel they can be pretty inaccessible, especially for working class artists. A disadvantage is that working with textiles takes a lot of patience, especially when it comes to embroidery. If you’re someone that struggles to remain motivated if you spend too much time on a piece then textiles probably aren’t a good fit. Recently I have been experimenting with beading and painting on textiles for the first time. It’s taking a bit of getting used to, but I’m really enjoying the process.

Can you elaborate on the significance or symbolism of the chosen title of your work?
I named this piece Touch as I wanted to highlight the power in a single touch. This piece focuses on the lingering emotional residue after moments of erotic ‘touch’. Rather than depicting the experience of eroticism, I wanted to explore the tenderness that comes after.

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different? Can you share a glimpse of your next project?
I think so, I have been exploring embroidery, beading and painting, and so I think I want to refine these practices further so I can learn how to combine them in a way that feels both personal and unique.

Connect with Dean over on Instagram and see his work in TRACES running at SFG until January 6th 2026.