Mary Trodden was born in 1977 and grew up in the North of England in a devoted catholic family. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art, selling the entirety of her degree show and going on to exhibit and teach in the UK and abroad in Europe and North America.

Trodden won the Biscuit Factory (Newcastle) Inaugural Prize, the Kelpies Design Award and the John Byrne Award. She was a resident artist collaborating with Melrose General Hospital and Soutra Ailse Medieval Hospital and received funding from Millennium Awards, The National Lottery, Creative Scotland and The Lighthouse. Her work has been published in ‘The Scotsman’, ‘The Sunday Times’, ‘ID Magazine’, ‘Artmag’ and featured on Thames television. Her paintings are in notable collections including the personal collection of British art critic Brian Sewell.

Trodden’s work often involves a narrative, either describing a personal journey, depicting an ironic commentary on our social structure, or displaying a playful symbolic representation of our quotidian life.

She is fascinated by myths and popular culture that she depicts through detailed linear portraiture against fantastical and geometric scapes. Her paintings' intricate details of brush technique and conceptual content provoke a never-ending fascination.