We’ll leave our shoes at the rock (2023) 100 x 120cm, oil on canvas
Overview
My practice brings together past and present moments of my life. It captures my love for a particular Highland village on the North Coast of Scotland and a forever longing to be there, with my naïve, slightly warped childhood memories of being in this place on holiday. Uniting both of these aspects together almost allows me to step back in time and relive these obscured memories and reprocess them as an adult with a better understanding. My work attempts to portray the intimate relationship I have with this place through painting from a third person’s viewpoint my memories here as a child. This forms the basis of a loose narrative throughout my work where figures can be seen within the landscape. Drawing on my hazy memories and an influence from utopian ideologies, the scenes become distorted and surreal.
Installation Shot 1
Colour is a tool that I utilise in my practice which further strengthens the sense of distortion and it allows me to exaggerate the atmosphere in my work. My love for bright and vibrant colours began in this Highland village when first seeing the incredible turquoise sea and the extraordinary colours cast in the sky during sunset. It felt right to pulls these striking colours out and use them in my work in other ways than representationally. Scale has been a continuous back and forth in my practice and is something I continue to explore. Sometimes I work small and quickly and produce fresh energetic work. This work really captures the essence of the moment and this is what I aim to achieve when I scale up. I view my work as an endless journey of finding the right way to express and explore my continuously developing relationship with this place, Durness.
Caught in The Kyle (2023) 80 x 100cm, oil on canvas
Untitled (2023) 13.2 x 15.5cm, oil on cardboard
Installation Shot 3
Untitled (2023) 15.5 x 13cm, oil on cardboard
In the Reeds (2023) 100 x 120cm, oil on canvas
Installation Shot 2
Skipping Ahead (2023) 80 x 100cm, oil on canvas
Installation Shot 4
Out to Sea (2023) 80 x 100cm, oil on canvas
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