McGraw lives and works between Argyll and Glasgow.

He is the Programme Leader for the Master of Letters in Fine Art Practice Programme (MLitt) at Glasgow School of Art.

Using printmaking, photography, sculpture and artist bookworks, his practice investigates issues related to land use, focussing on our industrial/social integration with land/space. This investigation is linked to an extensive analysis of social, political and historical findings allied, and at times, in opposition to, technological acceleration and advancement.
His work is frequently related to his own involvement with the natural landscape, often as result of his interaction with a particular place, space or site. His most recent works have taken on an edge of true simplicity, almost cathartic in their conception whereby we are encouraged to explore and reflect upon some very elementary acts of involvement, such as the series of “proposed” works and “viewing platforms”. These works include very simply designed structures and enclosures which are intended to take the “viewer” on an experiential journey designated to heighten their perception of place/space, irrespective of their familiarity with it.

Some recent projects have examined the way land has been used historically, looking at ancient agricultural field systems, the structures and roads used to apportion and traverse our landscapes (Roman interventions, military routes, drove roads, coffin routes) through to our current methods of land management, industrial utilisation and social use.

Recent works include the artist book Lilia which investigates the history of Roman warfare (linked to Paul Virilio’s “dromology” writings) which documents the only known site of a Roman lilia in Scotland, a series of defensive pits which contained sharpened stakes, designed to impale intruders attacking the Antonine Wall. Another new work entitled Abyssinia draws upon the use of remote solitary stone buildings (bothies) offering refuge in isolated locations. This series of embossed textural works on paper investigates notions of duration through history linked to the fragility of the materials in the making. The works examine our relationship and interaction with landscape and infrastructure put in place by our ancestors, with the intention to re-appraise or re-visit the factors surrounding their use or demise. Other recent works investigate the architecture of the refugee camp, (dis)place(d), through a large-scale printed installation; embossed paper three-dimensional works examining our connection with land use and engineering history (constructed paper Aqueduct work interpreted from Loch Katrine waterway).

Research interests

His main areas of research have been developed through an investigation of land use, predominantly but not limited to, the United Kingdom. He is interested in the relationship we have with land and how our natural environments have evolved over time, through agriculture, ritual, warfare, infrastructure, industry and technology. Particular interests encompass elements of geography, mapping and surveillance and their relation to artists working with the land. Historical research into land use and the effect it has on our spaces today is of particular importance.