Pamela So was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She graduated from Glasgow University and afterwards from the Environmental Art Department at Glasgow School of Art in 1998. She died in 2010 following a short illness.

She worked as a freelance artist based in Glasgow and North Ayrshire. She has undertaken Public Art commissions and devised many education projects using her own work as a reference point, the most recent being the ‘Cherish: Chinese Families in Britain’ project for the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In 2003, she was selected for the Autograph Residency at Syracuse University, NY, and in 2005 she undertook the Breathe Residency at Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, where she developed her particular form of large-scale paper cutting which has since been exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Solo shows at the Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews and the Collins Gallery, Glasgow in 2005/2006, resulted in a publication of her work, ‘Re: Collections’.

Her work was based on extensive research into domestic and cultural histories in museums and libraries or working with a particular group of people. She employs the manipulative qualities of digital photography to re-interpret and re-present history based on her Scottish/Chinese background.

Her work was often made for specific locations and their histories, the intuitive response to these sites was an important part of her art practice.