Wilkes was born in Dundonald, near
Belfast. She attended
Glasgow School of Art from 1985 to 1988, and subsequently completed an MFA at the
University of Ulster in 1992. She lives and works in
Glasgow. Her works often feature items from daily life or items of a domestic nature, such as baking parchment, cups, plates, and biscuits. Wilkes represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale in 2005. She also represented the United Kingdom at the 2019 event with an exhibition of interconnected series of floor-bound sculptural installations, paintings and prints curated by Hayward Gallery curator
Zoé Whitley. In 2008, Wilkes received a
Turner Prize nomination in the "Sculpture, film, sound, performance" category. In 2016, Wilkes received the Inaugural
Maria Lassnig Prize. ==References==