Rose Corcoran (b. 1972), studied History of Art at Edinburgh University (1991-4), Fine Art at City and Guilds, London (1995-8). She completed her Masters degree at the Royal College of Art in 2000.

A period living in northern India in 1990 was formative in her development, and she has established a close relationship with the sub-continent. She first saw tigers in the wild at Kahna (the setting of Kipling's 'Jungle Book'), and she was impressed by the contrast with the experience of seeing tigers in captivity, where she had previously studied them.

She became fascinated by the paradoxical power of big cats – their fearsome strength, yet their affectionate and nurturing nature to their young. The endangered status of these awesome animals became a passionate concern as she met the renowned animal campaigner Valmik Thapar, and through him visited Ranthambor.

Rosie believes in making art for a purpose, and intends her work to highlight the magnificence of the nature she depicts, but also its nearness to extinction through the actions of human beings. As much as depicting individual animals, she aspires to evoke the essence and vitality of the species in each image.

Like her great predecessors in the depiction of animals, such as Rembrandt Bugatti, Antione-Louis Barye or George Stubbs, she seeks to convey movement and the potential for movement, as well as the 'fearful symmetry' of her beasts. While she has a deep knowledge of the traditional techniques of drawing and printmaking, she marries these to a bold use of modern technology. She sometimes deploys video footage of animals in action, freeze-framing to analyse their structure and movement and she uses photographic techniques to construct complex, compound images of animals in unusual settings.

Corcoran is an artist both deeply traditional and clearly contemporary. Her work is dedicated to a secure future for her animal subjects in their natural habitat, which also assures her own future in the art world.