The Artists
Artists represented in the Hulabhaig Collection of Island Contemporary Art.
* Indicates artworks included by kind permission of the artist.
Please click on an artists name or artwork for more details.
Fraser MacBeath
Mar gum biodh an teine air do chraiceann (As if the fire were on your skin) 
Tiugainn Dachaidh (video)
Danielle Macleod
Mary Morrison
Seaforth
Locus Amoenus
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)*
Clover
Clover
Clover
Beka Globe
Photograph
Dimensions: H:91 x W:91(cm)
Framed: H:94 x W:97(cm)
Part of the Flowers series
Geo
Geo
Geo (detail)
Geo (detail)
Geo (detail)
Geo
Nickolai Globe
Ceramic and Glass
Dimensions: H:16 x W:29 x D:27(cm)
A small piece of Harris
A Road Less Travelled
A Road Less Travelled
A Road Less Travelled
Sarah Bold
Oil on Board
Dimensions: H:30 x W:23 x D:2(cm)
Winner of the 2022 Hulabhaig Uig Open Curator’s Purchase Award.
'A Road Less Travelled' stands out as a strong illustration of islandness or remoteness which has clearly been influenced by human activity which is not always positive.
In the Quiet
In the Quiet
In the Quiet
Andy Metcalf
Oil on Paper
Dimensions: H:21 x W:27(cm)
Framed: H:35 x W:41(cm)
Part of the 'Blue Jura' series
Tir-chumadh ('Land-relief')
Tir-chumadh ('Land-relief')
Tir-chumadh ('Land-relief')
Màiri NicGillÌosa
Cast plaster, peat ash, soot, oils and gold.
Dimensions: H:12 x W:12 x D:12(cm)
This sculpture is cast directly from grasses from the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides. It was formed using traditional casting methods with plaster using source water from the landscape. Its shape was inspired by the landscape, reflecting the weather-carved, tide-borne objects that speak of this place. A last layer of reflection radiates through colour - pigments made and applied from fires where great stories were told.
Aiteal ('Transient view')
Aiteal ('Transient view')
Aiteal ('Transient view') in frame
Aiteal ('Transient view')
Sandra Kennedy
Oil on linen.
Dimensions: H:29 x W:29(cm)
Framed: H:40 x W:40(cm)
Blending memory, landscape and contemplation, Sandras Imagination plays alongside the natural environment around her village - Marvig, South Lochs, Lewis. The scree slopes are backdrops for all kinds of narratives. With the changing weather and light, moods follow. The weather; the colours and the seasons tell their own stories.
Bail àrd Bhuirgh ('High Borve')
Bail àrd Bhuirgh ('High Borve')
Bail àrd Bhuirgh ('High Borve')
Màiri NicGillÌosa
Ink on tissue, oil paint on paper
Dimensions: H:18 x W:18(cm)
Framed: H:25 x W:25(cm)
The Croftland series explores themes of crofting and visually offers commentary on post-clearance land use and the division of land in crofting townships on the west side of Lewis. This was born from a curiosity about practices in transhumance, the movement of animals to summer grazing by indigenous peoples and a curiosity as to why these stopped and the sheiling culture went out of use, possibly due to the advent of fencing.
Several of the Croftland series artworks will be exhibited as part of Buaile, an exhibition at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery (IMAG), which was part of a collaborative visual arts programme delivered across three city centre venues with Wasps Inverness Creative Academy and Eden Court. Together they will present a wide range of works from artists who are inspired by the Gaelic language, the culture and connection to the land.
Pentland Guardian
Pentland Guardian
Pentland Guardian
Danielle Macleod
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm paper. Limited edition run of 30 signed and numbered print
Dimensions: H:29 x W:21(cm)
Framed: H:34 x W:27(cm)
‘Guardians’ is an ongoing series exploring the reconstruction of the artist’s identity after leaving her Christian faith, and about the nature of belief as a space between reality and imagination. These masks, constructed mostly from natural and found materials on the islands, manifest spirituality outside the boundaries of organised religion. They declare a new way of being to the place which formed her. The making of each mask begins as a re-molding of a certain way of being and believing. As soon as they are worn an entity is called into existence that has movement and life. Once photographed, these entities become idols, or gods, or spiritual guides, that continue to lead one towards a better place. Old gods have been replaced by new ones — not ones of authority but of inspiration. Inspiration to be, to play, and to live in a way that feels more right and more true for oneself.
New Guardian
New Guardian
New Guardian
Danielle Macleod
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm paper. Limited edition run of 30 signed and numbered print
Dimensions: H:29 x W:21(cm)
Framed: H:29 x W:27(cm)
‘Guardians’ is an ongoing series exploring the reconstruction of the artist’s identity after leaving her Christian faith, and about the nature of belief as a space between reality and imagination. These masks, constructed mostly from natural and found materials on the islands, manifest spirituality outside the boundaries of organised religion. They declare a new way of being to the place which formed her. The making of each mask begins as a re-molding of a certain way of being and believing. As soon as they are worn an entity is called into existence that has movement and life. Once photographed, these entities become idols, or gods, or spiritual guides, that continue to lead one towards a better place. Old gods have been replaced by new ones — not ones of authority but of inspiration. Inspiration to be, to play, and to live in a way that feels more right and more true for oneself.
Armoured Guardian
Armoured Guardian
Armoured Guardian
Danielle Macleod
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm paper. Limited edition run of 30 signed and numbered print
Dimensions: H:29 x W:21(cm)
Framed: H:34 x W:27(cm)
‘Guardians’ is an ongoing series exploring the reconstruction of the artist’s identity after leaving her Christian faith, and about the nature of belief as a space between reality and imagination. These masks, constructed mostly from natural and found materials on the islands, manifest spirituality outside the boundaries of organised religion. They declare a new way of being to the place which formed her. The making of each mask begins as a re-molding of a certain way of being and believing. As soon as they are worn an entity is called into existence that has movement and life. Once photographed, these entities become idols, or gods, or spiritual guides, that continue to lead one towards a better place. Old gods have been replaced by new ones — not ones of authority but of inspiration. Inspiration to be, to play, and to live in a way that feels more right and more true for oneself.
Wandering Guardian
Wandering Guardian
Wandering Guardian
Danielle Macleod
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm paper. Limited edition run of 30 signed and numbered print
Dimensions: H:29 x W:21(cm)
Framed: H:34 x W:27(cm)
‘Guardians’ is an ongoing series exploring the reconstruction of the artist’s identity after leaving her Christian faith, and about the nature of belief as a space between reality and imagination. These masks, constructed mostly from natural and found materials on the islands, manifest spirituality outside the boundaries of organised religion. They declare a new way of being to the place which formed her. The making of each mask begins as a re-molding of a certain way of being and believing. As soon as they are worn an entity is called into existence that has movement and life. Once photographed, these entities become idols, or gods, or spiritual guides, that continue to lead one towards a better place. Old gods have been replaced by new ones — not ones of authority but of inspiration. Inspiration to be, to play, and to live in a way that feels more right and more true for oneself.
Light Guardian
Light Guardian
Light Guardian
Danielle Macleod
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm paper. Limited edition run of 30 signed and numbered print
Dimensions: H:29 x W:21(cm)
Framed: H:34 x W:27(cm)
‘Guardians’ is an ongoing series exploring the reconstruction of the artist’s identity after leaving her Christian faith, and about the nature of belief as a space between reality and imagination. These masks, constructed mostly from natural and found materials on the islands, manifest spirituality outside the boundaries of organised religion. They declare a new way of being to the place which formed her. The making of each mask begins as a re-molding of a certain way of being and believing. As soon as they are worn an entity is called into existence that has movement and life. Once photographed, these entities become idols, or gods, or spiritual guides, that continue to lead one towards a better place. Old gods have been replaced by new ones — not ones of authority but of inspiration. Inspiration to be, to play, and to live in a way that feels more right and more true for oneself.
Donald
Donald
Donald
Deljeem Rai
Photograph
Dimensions: H:37 x W:31(cm)
Framed: H:44 x W:37(cm)
CEARNS This project grew from Deljeem Rai's desire to explore his connection to and identity within the Cearns, a small housing estate in Stornoway. Growing up in Nepal gave him a strong national identity and sense of self, a sense that suffered after migrating to Scotland where a desire to fit into his adopted nation necessitated that he disconnect from that identity. However, while living in the Cearns, Deljeem found a new sense of belonging within a community. There, himself and his family became part of a community that had a strong sense of connection with each other and who supported and welcomed them. Through portraiture and environmental photographs, he hopes to create pride for those who live in the Cearns, seeing themselves and their homes represented in a way that reflects their strong community values.
John Ross
John Ross
John Ross
Deljeem Rai
Photograph
Dimensions: H:37 x W:31(cm)
Framed: H:44 x W:37(cm)
CEARNS This project grew from Deljeem Rai's desire to explore his connection to and identity within the Cearns, a small housing estate in Stornoway. Growing up in Nepal gave him a strong national identity and sense of self, a sense that suffered after migrating to Scotland where a desire to fit into his adopted nation necessitated that he disconnect from that identity. However, while living in the Cearns, Deljeem found a new sense of belonging within a community. There, himself and his family became part of a community that had a strong sense of connection with each other and who supported and welcomed them. Through portraiture and environmental photographs, he hopes to create pride for those who live in the Cearns, seeing themselves and their homes represented in a way that reflects their strong community values.
Still Life with Dogfish
Still Life with Dogfish
Still Life with Dogfish
Calum Angus Mackay
Photograph
Dimensions: H:34 x W:41(cm)
Framed: H:46 x W:54(cm)
Nailed Skate
Nailed Skate
Nailed Skate
Calum Angus Mackay
Photograph
Dimensions: H:34 x W:41(cm)
Framed: H:46 x W:54(cm)
“I was working in my studio byre, a little unhappy with a wooden crate that I had built, layered with lead, a sort of open flat box at one end. I left it and took a spin down to the west end of the village in my van. Without warning, my front wheel took a bump over something I stopped to check, and out of an old hessian sack slid a large, shiny skate. Unexpected roadkill. I took it with me back to the studio, and I could scarcely believe it; as if the lead box had been made for it, the skate was nailed to the edges, just like a burial casket.
Later, I told the story of this image to Colin 'Fish'. He had a bad habit of going between the houses and leaving the back doors of his van wide open. He had a proper laugh.”
Extract from UNNAD Indigenous.
Frozen Bait
Frozen Bait
Frozen Bait
Calum Angus Mackay
Photograph
Dimensions: H:34 x W:41(cm)
Framed: H:46 x W:54(cm)
Conger Eel
Conger Eel
Conger Eel
Calum Angus Mackay
Photograph
Dimensions: H:41 x W:41(cm)
Framed: H:54 x W:54(cm)
Mar gum biodh an teine air do chraiceann (As if the fire were on your skin)
Mar gum biodh an teine air do chraiceann (As if the fire were on your skin)
Mar gum biodh an teine air do chraiceann (As if the fire were on your skin)
Fraser MacBeath
Video
Commission by the University of Edinburgh, for the exhibition 'A Carrying Stream' 2023. 'This work is a reflection on what it means to live a rural existence - a life characterised by a deep bond with nature; an endless balancing act between appreciating its beauty and bounty, and sheltering from its ambivalent brutality. For most of human history this relationship was mediated by the campfire, the centre of this piece as it was the traditional centre of rural life. Warm by the fire, we were given the respite to reflect on our relationship with nature and each other, and from this all manner of prose, poetry, song, and comfort emerged. In Scotland where so much of our cultural output and history speaks to an embodiment of nature, one could argue that it was by the fire that we found our identity. When populations are sparse and nature unforgiving, these bonds of community become vital for survival. But the fire also gave rise to something greater than survival - we started to dream. This piece invites the spectator to sit by the campfire and experience these dreams again. To feel that same reverence for nature embodied by our oral tradition, that our rural ancestors would have felt time and again, here in the warm glow of life itself.'.
Tiugainn Dachaidh.
Tiugainn Dachaidh (video)
Tiugainn Dachaidh.
Fraser MacBeath
Video
Winner of the RSA Benno Schotz Prize for the most promising work by a Scottish artist under 35. Royal Scottish Academy 197th Annual Exhibition. Winner of Rèasort Estates Award, Hulabhaig Uig Open 2021. The Outer Hebrides are among rural communities throughout the world that are experiencing population decline. Out of any Scottish local authority region, The Outer Hebrides is where this is most significant. From 1901 to 2001 the population has fallen by 40% . More recent figures show that population is predicted to decline by a further 16% between 2018 and 2046 while the rest of Scotland is set to increase by 2.4%. The Outer Hebrides comprise more than 70 islands but only 15 remain inhabited today. This work uses footage recorded in abandoned houses, field recordings from the Isle of lewis and Scottish archival audio in order to give an immersive experience of the loss currently being experienced there.
Pelt
Pelt
Pelt
Giles Perring
Photograph
Dimensions: H:51 x W:76 x D:1(cm)
Part of the 'Exposure' touring exhibition.
Re-Soundings*
Re-Soundings*
Re-Soundings*
Re-Soundings*
Mhairi Killin
Re cast WW1 munitions
“The Heretics Take Down the Bells from the Churches in Geneva: On the next Wednesday (May 12th) those dogs removed the bell from Notre Dame de Grace and threw it down from the Steeple to destroy it. Afterwards they went to see the bells at the monastery of Palais and at the parish of Saint-Gervais because they wanted to melt them down and make weapons to use against monseigneur and the Christians.”[i]
Commissioned by An Lanntair, Re-Soundings is the outcome of a collaborative journey through the landscapes of Lewis and Iona. Musician John Purser of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Lewis writer Alastair McIntosh, accompanied us in our exploration of the bell as a symbol of secular and non-secular time all set against the wider context of the reformation in Europe. The thinking behind Re-Soundings was directly informed by the time spent in specific landscapes with local people who shared their knowledge and connection to place, and through conversations and activities with Alastair McIntosh and John Purser. Re-Soundings references the iconoclasm of the Reformation and the impact of this on belief structures in the Hebrides, suggested by the presence and absence of the bell as a visual and auditory feature in the landscape. One of Alastair McIntosh’s observations on Lewis’s bell-less belfries is that the empty space leaves room to look through and beyond to an alternative and, some might argue, deeper understanding of belief. The emptiness and silence has created a space not only for reflection, but also, for creativity. Into this, Re-Soundings ventures.
The exhibition at An Lanntair in May/June 2016 and the sound interventions at St. Moluag’s Chapel on Lewis and St. Oran’s Chapel on Iona in June 2016, reflect months of shared thinking, and engagement with one another’s artistic and scholarly practices, and with the people most connected to the landscapes we explored. Created by John Purser, the sound work was composed primarily from bell recordings gathered during public workshops and performances on Lewis and Iona.
The bells were created by re casting WW1 munitions into replicas of two early Christian quadrangular hand-bells. We chose this material to symbolise a rethinking of the iconoclasm of the Reformation in Europe; we know from historical documents that bells were removed from religious buildings and recast as munitions. It seemed fitting to use munitions from the Great War, given that the project coincides with its centenary. The project is supported by a bi-lingual publication with commissioned writing from Alastair McIntosh, John Purser and Francis MacKee and includes a CD of the sound piece and pullout screen printed map of the geographical context of the project.
The publication serves as an artefact to the project, extending its life beyond the chronology of the exhibition and installations. One meaning of “inspiration” is to breathe in, and as artists we have inhaled deeply of the exceptional physical, spiritual and cultural terrain of Lewis and Iona.
We hope that the Re Soundings website, publication and CD will allow you to share in that breath.
The project would not have been possible without the generous support of Creative Scotland, An Lanntair, Comhlairle nan Eileen Siar, Historic Environment Scotland, Sabhal Mar Ostaig, Fiona MacNeill Associates, Aosdàna, Media Studio Glasgow School of Art, Ness Historical Society, Shawbost Historical Society, St. Peter’s Church Stornoway. Personal thanks also to Acair Books, Alastair McIntosh, John Purser, Frances McKee; Roddy Murray, Elly Fletcher, Jon Macleod, An Lanntair; Rev. Terry Taggart, St. Peter’s Church Stornoway; Finlay Macleod; Andy Crossan; Andrew Laing, Laings Foundry Edinburgh; Calum Angus Mackay, Ivor MacKenzie, MastArd Studio; Etta and Roddy Morrison; Jim Crawford; Anne Macleod, Ness Historical Society; Iain Macaulay; Alasdair MacKay, Skyespace, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig; Geoff Allen, CaVa Recording Studios; Andy Graham, Graphical House; Alasdair MacLeoid, Facal; Jane Martin, Historic Environment Scotland; Pete Johnson, Ratho Forge; Gordon Bruce, Aosdàna; Andrew Tibbles, Mark Craig, MakLab. Finally, we owe many thanks to the participants of the Lewis and Iona sound workshops. Their engagement with the bells provided John with a wealth of audio material for his composition.
Seaforth
Seaforth
Seaforth
Seaforth
Seaforth
Mary Morrison
Oil/Mixed Media on Canvas
Dimensions: H:30 x W:30 x D:2(cm)
Framed: H:34 x W:34 x D:5(cm)
This work is very typical of the artists work at this time, when she has was developing a visual language to explore and frame her island identity. Maps were more strongly present in her work - the rendering of the coastline and co-ordinates of an Ordnance Survey map are focused on Loch Seaforth (Siophort) which effectively forms the boundary between Harris and Lewis. This work also incorporates silver leaf which has slowly oxidised with time.
Locus Amoenus
Locus Amoenus
Locus Amoenus
Mary Morrison
Photo plate lithography, monoprint and oil on paper.
Dimensions: H:42 x W:30(cm)
Framed: H:63 x W:45(cm)
Locus amoenus (‘pleasant place’) is a literary term which refers to an idealized place of safety or comfort which generally has three basic elements: trees, grass, and water. Often it will be in a remote place and function as a landscape of the mind, and also a place of refuge from the processes of time and mortality.
This last year has been a time of seeking such spaces, both real and imaginary, and a time for reflection and review.
In this context, I have revisited a printed element in a previous series of works Hortus Conclusus ‘the enclosed garden’ as part of Curved Stream at Traquair House in the Scottish Borders in 2015. These works incorporated a motif reproduced (through photo lithography) from the embossed design of a book cover in the museum room at Traquair. The motif suggested the design and symbolism of an enclosed or walled garden to which I added a ‘quartering of the world’ and water at the heart of the space. This new series of works are a reworking of an unfinished piece from the earlier series, and are now overlaid with the concept of the locus amoenus and our current experiences in relation to seeking solace, enclosures and green spaces in the face of a global pandemic. I have layered additional monoprinting and oil paint onto the paper
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)*
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)*
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)* - Detail
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)*
Mary Morrison
Oil/Mixed Media on paper
Dimensions: H:26 x W:102(cm)
Framed: H:43 x W:121(cm)
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (Long is the winter night)
This work is presented here as part of the Hulabhaig Collection by kind permission of the artist.
Work inspired by the songs of Murdo MacFarlane (Bàrd Mhealboist).
This song was written when Murdo was a young man, working in Manitoba, Canada, and is a classic ‘exile’ song. A very beautiful song. The translations don’t do the songs justice, either in the beauty of the gaelic original or the music.
"I wanted to use a horizon in a large-scale painting, and embody that sense of exile and longing in the song. ‘Cianalas’ is a very particular term in gaelic, often translated as homesickness, it is much more profound than that, as this translation suggests: ‘A deep seated sense of belonging to the place where your roots lie. Normally attributed to the Outer Hebrides. There is no sadness or melancholy in cianalas, only the realisation of what is truly important in life.’"
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (extract)
I feel the winter night long
Long, long, long it is
I can see nothing but a bare prairie there
And I can’t hear a wave coming to the shore
(Chorus)
In the evening time when it’s getting dark
Often the spirit will be full of longing
Thinking that there is a long, long distance
From where I would like to be ceilidhing
The work was created for an exhibition curated by Ishbel Murray 2016 based around a book launch.
'Le Mùirn' (With Affection)
Author - Catriona Murray https://www.ishbelmurray.org/collaboration.html
Feamainn
Feamainn
Feamainn
Rhea Banker
AIRD MEINISH - Feamainn
The eternal lure of an island, that faint glimmer in the distance, that unexplored landscape, that opportunity to expand our own inner horizons, is nowhere more potent for Rhea than on the islands along Scotland’s West Coast.
These images reflect her repeated visits to Eilean Aird Meinish, a tiny tidal island sitting between Loch Miavaig and Loch Roag. Only accessible by foot at low tide and dwarfed by the often cloud-capped hills of Uig, the island is a reminder of the power held within the smallest view and the slowest journey.
Tide Bhagarrach 2
Tide Bhagarrach 2
Tide Bhagarrach 2
Rhea Banker
AIRD MEINISH - Tide Bhagarrach 2
The eternal lure of an island, that faint glimmer in the distance, that unexplored landscape, that opportunity to expand our own inner horizons, is nowhere more potent for Rhea than on the islands along Scotland’s West Coast.
These images reflect her repeated visits to Eilean Aird Meinish, a tiny tidal island sitting between Loch Miavaig and Loch Roag. Only accessible by foot at low tide and dwarfed by the often cloud-capped hills of Uig, the island is a reminder of the power held within the smallest view and the slowest journey.
A' Coiseachd (Walking)
A' Coiseachd (Walking)
A' Coiseachd (Walking) - Detail
A' Coiseachd (Walking)
Sandra Kennedy
Woodblock watercolour mono-print on Mulbery paper
Dimensions: H:96 x W:96(cm)
Framed: H:114 x W:111(cm)
About the Artist
Photo courtesy of the artist.
https://www.instagram.com/rhea_banker_photography
Rhea Banker
"Within the bedrock of this planet, there are untold stories of history, of continental journeys, of coasts that bear witness to it all. My work is about capturing these untold stories by focusing on the smallest details held within the Earth’s crust. I explore geological features, worn surfaces, and glacial intrusions that reflect this ongoing transformation.
Using macro-photography as the starting point for my prints, my goal, however, is not to document the physical, but to share my intuitive response to these ancient and on-going stories. I work to reveal details, evoke movement through patterns, and add layers to share a sense of place, of time, and of personal journey.”
Rhea Banker is a photographer and award winning book designer. After living and working in New York City for 30 years, she now makes her base in Northwestern Massachusetts. Much of her work is based on journeys to far rocky edges of the world, including Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Greenland, and Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego. Her abstract studies of patterns within the Earth’s ancient surfaces have been exhibited in a variety of museums, galleries, and cultural centers, including locations in Copenhagen, Denmark; Edinburgh, Scotland; Scotland's Outer Hebrides; New York, New York, USA; Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in a variety of museums in Greenland (see below).
Much of her work is based on ancient movements recorded within the Earth’s crust and maps of imagined lands. Her textural abstract images are her reflections of these movements, and reveal her own attempts at understanding and sharing stories held within the landscape..
Her most recent work is focused on explorations along Greenland's west coast over the last 5 years. These newest images are responses to the deep connections she experiences between stone, sea, and ice as we witness a new epoch in the life of our fragile planet.
She has also done site-specific work and has permanent installations for the Stornoway Airport, Isle of Lewis; Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Scotland; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York; and the University of Pennsylvania Berks Campus, Pennsylvania.
In addition to Rhea’s photographic work, she is a professional book designer. Her designs have won multiple awards, and have been repeatedly exhibited at the New York Bookbinder’s Exhibitions in New York City.
A graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo, Rhea received her BFA in Design and a BA in Art History. While there, she was the winner of the Evelyn Rumsey Lord Travel Fellowship. She has lectured undergraduates in Medieval Art History as well as in the History of Photography. She is currently based in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
EXHIBITIONS, INSTALLATIONS and EVENTS
2023 – Anchor House/The New England Visionary Artists Museum - Excavations/Revelations - new work from Greenland - Northampton, Massachusetts
2023 – Olive Free Library - cARTography: Alternate Routes - maps in art group show - West Shokan, New York
2022 – Uummannaq Children’s Home - Qamutit: Portraits in the Landscape/Exhibit and children’s workshop - Uummannaq, Greenland
2021 – Forbes Library- As Glaciers Recede: Textures of Svalbard - Works from an Arctic Residency - Northampton, Massachusetts
2021 – Salmon Falls Gallery - Divergence/Shaping the Land - work during a year of lockdown - Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
2020 - Nuutoqaq/Nuuk Lokalmuseum – Qamutit: Portraits in the Landscape/exhibit and workshop - Nuuk, Greenland
2020 - Peary/Macmillan Arctic Museum – Qamutit: Portraits in the Landscape - Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
2019 – Arctic Circle Residency - participated in art residency exploring impact of climate change, sailing the coasts of the Svalbard Archipelago
2019 – Sunderland Library - Valtos/Landscape and Language - new work from Scotland’s Outer Hebrides - Sunderland, Massachusetts
2018 – Hitchcock Center for the Environment - Melting Ice, Rising Seas - Amherst, Massachusetts
2018 – Narsaq Museum - Qamutit: Portraits in the Landscape - Narsaq, Greenland
2018 – Explorer's Club Polar Film Exhibit - QAQQAQ: a portrait of Uummannaq Mountain - New York City
2017 – Uummannaq Museum - QAQQAQ: a portrait of Uummannaq Mountain - Uummannaq, Grteenland
2017 – Taste of Science Festival - Akunnaaq: The Place in Between - recent Greenlandic work - New York City, NY
2016 – RhueArt Gallery - Greenland: At the Margins - (see below under 2015 for installation description) - Ullapool, Scotland
2016 – Moray Art Centre - Greenland: At the Margins - Inverness, Scotland
2015 – Greenland: At the Margins – 2 person collaboration, with artist Jane Rushton, that traveled to 3 major cultural centers on the Western coast of Greenland – Ilulissat Kunstmuseum, Ilulissat; Nuuk Kunstmseum, Nuuk; Taseralik Cultural Center, Sisimiut; Greenlandic Hus, Copenhagen, Denmark
2014 – Greenlandic Hus – Greenland: At the Margins – 2 person show focused on impressions of Greenland’s changing coastline – Copenhagen, Denmark
2012 – Penn State College – Permanent Installation - Art and Science Collaboration – Reading Pennsylvania, USA
2011 – Queen’s Hall - Permanent installation following Edinburgh Fringe Festival – Atlas Novus – Edinburgh, Scotland
2010 – Stornoway Trust Nature Centre – permanent installation – Isle of Lewis, Scotland
2009 – Bernera Historical Museum –Textures of an Island - to benefit the Bernera Museum– Isle of Bernera, Scotland
2008 – Kirkland & Ellis Gallery – Stone and Bronze –2 person show– New York City, New York
2008 – Stornoway Airport – Permanent Installation Part 2 – For the Telling – Departure Hall – Isle of Lewis, Scotland
2008 – Canongate Kirk - Permanent Installation following Edinburgh Fringe Festival – Vanishing Views - Edinburgh, Scotland
2008 – Pearson Educación Argentina- Tiera del Fuego/ Stone and Sea –solo exhibit - Buenos Aires, Argentina
2007 – Stornoway Airport– Permanent Installation Part 1 – Circling the Stones – Arrivals Hall – Outer Hebrides, Scotland
2007 – Ceres Gallery – Recent Excavations – solo exhibit – New York City, New York
2007 – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church– Anonymous Pilgrims of Chartres – Permanent Installation – Brooklyn, New York
2007 – Pearson Plc. Corporate Offices – small works– White Plains, New York
2006 – AtticSalt Gallery – Hebridean Works – Edinburgh, Scotland
2006 – Krasdale Gallery – New works – New York City , New York
2006 – Cathedral of St. John Divine – Anonymous Pilgrims of Chartres – installation – New York City, New York
2006 - Ceres Gallery - Square Show – New York City, New York
2005 - Annual JFS Juried Show – Edison, New Jersey
2005 – New York Inter-church Center Gallery – Signs and Surfaces – solo exhibit – New York City, New York
2004 – Ceres Gallery – Meridians: Scotland’s Outer Hebrides - solo exhibit – New York City, New York
2004 – Ceres Gallery - Constellation Group Show – New York City, New York
2003 – Callanish Visitor Center Gallery – New Work – Isle of Lewis, Scotland
1997 - New York Bookbuilders Design Show – Silver – New York City, New York
1995 - Museum of Women’s History Installation - Cooperstown, NY
About the Artist
Sarah's work has always intrigued me, with her inclusion of waste and discarded plastic, and unnatural objects into otherwise rugged landscapes.
In 2021 her work 'A Road Less Travelled' was selected for the Hulabhaig Curator purchase prize, its suggestion that our islands are not quite as perfect as we hope they are, reflect a reality which many visitors and incomers are happy to ignore in endless social media posts of beaches and sunsets.
Sarah Bold
Originally from Australia, Sarah now lives in the Western Isles of Scotland. She is a landscape painter interested in the significant impact of human activity upon the planet’s ecosystems, geology and climate, and more specifically how this relates to the rural environment. Issues such as climate change, the coastal and marine environment, agriculture, isolation and migration underpin her work, whilst considering our transitory existence in relation to the geological age of the Earth.
Her paintings are in oil paint and hover between figurative and abstraction. She studied painting at the University of Arts, London and is a graduate of Turps Banana Painting Correspondence course. Sarah is a recent recipient for the Society of Scottish Artists mentor/mentee yearly programme. Sarah was awarded the Mall Galleries’ ING Discerning Eye Landscape Prize 2023.
Recent exhibition's include Art On A Post Card International Women’s Day 2024, Detail Art Gallery, Edinburgh, Irving Gallery, RSW Annual exhibition, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, Wells Contemporary, Royal Scottish Academy Annual. Previously Sarah has won the Jackson’s Painting Landscape Prize, was shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship Art Prize and received the Hulabhaig Curator’s Purchase Award.
Exhibitions
2025 ‘The Land’, Society of Scottish Artists, The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock
2025 John Ruskin Art Prize, ‘From the Eye to the Hand’, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
2025 'Small Paintings Exhibition', Morningside Gallery, Edinburgh
2024 Winter exhibition, Detail Gallery, Edinburgh
2024 ‘What in the World’, A New Primer, St Margaret’s House, Edinburgh
2024 ‘Summer Salon’, Detail Gallery, Edinburgh
2024 ‘Festival Exhibition’, Graystone Gallery, Edinburgh
2024 ‘Treasures’, Society of Scottish Artists, Gairloch Museum
2024 ‘Constellations’, Irving Gallery, Oxford
2024 ‘A Room of One’s Own’, Irving Gallery, Oxford
2024 Art on A Postcard, International Women’s Day, The Bomb Factory, London
2024 ‘From Sea to Sky’ , Detail Gallery, Edinburgh
2023 Winter exhibition, The Old Lock up Gallery, Derbyshire
2023 ‘Connect & Grow’, Society of Scottish Artists, Cass Art, Glasgow
2023 ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries London, Winner Landscape Prize
2023 Wells Art Contemporary Annual Exhibition, Wells, Somerset (Aug 04)
2023 ‘West’, Visual Arts Scotland, The Briggait, Glasgow
2023 The Old Lock Up Gallery Open, Derbyshire
2023 Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour 142nd Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2022 Spring Cheltenham Small Works Winter Show, Cheltenham
2022 Art on A Post Card Winter Auction, Bomb Factory, London
2022 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
2022 ‘Reverb’, Visual Arts Scotland Annual Open, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2021 Hulabhaig UIg Open, Isle of Lewis
2021 ‘The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog’, TurpsCC21, Cohort Art
2021 ‘Incandescent’, Irving Contemporary, Oxford
2021 'Message to the Earth', John Muir Open, North Light Arts, Dunbar Town House Gallery
2021 'Our Changing World', group exhibition, D31 Gallery, Doncaster
2021 The Alpine Fellowship Painting Prize (shortlist)
2021 Royal Scottish Academy 195th Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
2021 Jackson's Painting Prize (Winner Landscape/Seascape/Cityscape category)
2020 ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2020 ‘Flow’, Visual Arts Scotland (VAS)
2020 ‘SSA 30x30 Online Edition', Society of Scottish Artists (SSA)
2020 ‘Tides Changing//Changing Tides’, SSA Viewing Rooms
2020 Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2020 Wells Art Contemporary Annual Exhibition, Wells, Somerset
2020 ‘On The Table’, Marram Arts, @marramarts
2020 Jackson’s Painting Prize exhibition, (Jacksonsart.com long list)
2020 Royal Scottish Academy 194th Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
2020 Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2019 ‘A Time and Place’, Amp Gallery, London
2019 Westmorland Landscape Prize, group exhibition, Rheged Gallery, Cumbria
2019 ‘Over Seas’, SkyeMakers Gallery, Isle of Skye
2019 ‘Home’, group exhibition, CamCRAG, Michaelhouse Centre, Cambridge
2018 Aros Centre, group exhibition, Portree, Isle of Skye
2018 An Crubh, group exhibition, Sleat, Isle of Skye
2018 UHI (University of Highlands and Islands) group exhibition, Portree, Isle of Skye
2016 Battersea Affordable Art Fair, Artichoke Print Workshop, London
2014 FBA Futures, group exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2013 Battersea Affordable Art Fair, Artichoke Print Workshop, London
2013 Clyde & Co. Art award exhibition, The St.Botolph Building, London
2013 Wimbledon Degree Show (BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting, London
2013 Capsticks Winter group exhibition, Wimbledon, London
2013 Capsticks Summer group exhibition, Wimbledon, London
2012 ‘No Place in Particular’, Le Garage Gallery, South London
2011 ‘Bittersweet’, group exhibition, Real World Gallery, E1, London
1997 ‘Red and Blue in Space’, exhibition, Blue Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1996 Byron Bay Art Festival, Group exhibition, Byron Bay, Australia
Prizes:
2025 The John Ruskin Art Prize (shortlist), Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
2023 ING Discerning Eye Landscape Prize, Winner, Mall Galleries, London
2022 Hulabhaig Uig Open Curator’s Purchase Award
2021 Jacksons Art Prize - Winner, Landscape Seascape City category
Collections:
2024 Hulabhaig Island Contemporary Art Collection, Isle of Lewis
2023 Tia Collection, https://tiacollection.com/
2013 Landmark
Press:
2024 SeaVoice Volume 5, 'Sense’
2021 Jackson’s Art Prize Blog, interview ‘Shifting Perspectives’
2014 Traction Magazine & Postcard Wall: Interview, @postcardwall
About the Artist
I first saw Beka’s ‘Clover’ image at a show at An Lanntair, where I was invited to show one of my own sculptures. The size of it was key, altering your perception, changing your viewpoint it made you feel small, its subject confirmed it. As I looked up to view the flower from an insects perspective, it became abstract, almost sculptural reminding me of monumental work I’d recently seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Printed in large scale format almost a metre square ‘Clover’ commands a powerful place in the collection. I’m also grateful to Beka for kindly allowing me to include the other images from the ‘Flowers’ series in our virtual gallery. I’m looking forward to exploring interesting CGI ways to display them.
Beka Globe
Beka moved to the Isle of Harris when she was 11 years old. Her father, the renown sculptor Steve Dilworth, had relocated the family to find more inspirational surroundings, they certainly found it on Harris.
She studied photography at Napier University in Edinburgh in the 1990’s, and now returning to Harris to raise her own family, her photographic work has developed a unique style which reflects the dramatic environment and contrasting boundaries that these isles have to offer.
With the Hebridean flowers, Beka felt it was important to use natural light. All back lit, she wanted the feeling of being a fairy at the bottom of the garden, underneath and surrounded by flowers, photographing them almost from below looking up, like an insects eye view. Capturing a presence of being amongst the flowers.
In an interview with David Lintern for Walk Highlands Beka recalls…
“The flowers were about going deep, into the detail, the structure of life, the organic side of Harris, still very much part of the landscape, but on another level. Everything is connected and I see the flowers as a whole new way of looking, from the perspective of a bee… They were taken with natural daylight in super macro, and in some cases using multiple stacked exposures to create a different perspective.”
About the Artist
My first meeting with Nickolai was at The Mission House, the converted church that he and his photographer wife Beka Globe now call home and studio. But on entering it was the artworks that impressed easily as much as the Mission House they were surrounded by. That was back in 2019, now I’m back in 2024 to pickup a ceramic piece I’ve selected for the collection, ‘Geo’ - a work that reflects the dramatic nature of the east coast of Harris, complete with its own cracked glass lochan.
My visit was not initially about art, more about the church, as I had just gained permission from the owners to explore possibilities at Baile na Cille church and I was hungry for ideas and how-to’s etc..
Nickolai Globe
The ceramic works of Nickolai Globe are influenced directly by the environment of the rugged North West. Drawing from elements of Zen and the unpredictable, his work reflects rather than emulates nature.
Nickolai was born into a bucket of clay! He was raised in the family pottery (Lotte Glob) in the Far North West of Scotland. In 1986 worked with the Ceramic artist Erik Nyholm in Denmark. There he worked on large scale architectural ceramics and sculpture. Following Denmark, Nickolai studied traditional production under Tim Holloway where gained discipline in producing traditional, functional, wood fired, stoneware pottery whilst studying ceramics at Southampton University.
In 1989 Nickolai moved to Australia where he set up his own studio and produced sculptural ceramics and exhibited widely. During this time he worked closely with Thanakupi - Aboriginal Elder and international renowned ceramic artist. Now he has fused himself to The Isle of Harris, where the influence of his ironage nordic bogman ancestors have fluxed his Wabi-sabi pre-occupation to create his archaic works. His new work takes ceramics to the edge of craft, where sculpture and function merge. His high fired stoneware bowls and vessel forms become geological and carry in them a deep reflection of the terrain of the Hebrides.
The work produced in the studio is high fired stoneware, incorporating local minerals and fused glass. His techniques involve firing the ceramic pieces to very high temperatures, transforming the clay to a rock like material and fusing the glass with the clay. The subtle colours are achieved through careful use of metal oxides: cobalt, copper, manganese and iron. These innovative techniques create completely unique results. The work is vitrified and eternal, like stone. It will last for thousands of years, never fading, just remaining as a fragment of time, movement, energy and thought
About the Artist
On a visit to Reothart nan Ealain, a new Gaelic visual arts hub here in the Outer Hebrides, while in conversation with Mairi Gillies its proprietor I was distracted by an artwork displayed to my right, not sure why, maybe my ramblings about our bad summer weather was boring myself as much as Mairi. The work was Aiteal ('Transient view'), when Mairi explained more and revealed the artist was Sandra Kennedy I knew I had found another artwork for the collection. Curiously I think the artwork was more descriptive of our bad summer weather than my ramblings could ever be.
https://www.sandrakennedyart.org/
Sandra Kennedy
Sandra Kennedy's work is a contemplation of memory and landscape. Imagination is in dialogue with the natural environment around her village - Marvig. The scree slopes are the backdrop for all kinds of narratives. The colours and seasons tell their own stories. All is in motion - tides; clouds; grasses in the wind; the surface of sea and lochs; sightings of birds and wild animals. On a different time scale is erosion, decay and growth.
Her art comes from observation, she looks for alternative or new perspectives about things she sees and hears. There is always something to discover even if you walk the same route every day.
She is also fascinated to learn from the way others describe their experiences of nature, it might be friends who come to visit, or the work of writers or filmmakers who focus on the natural world.
She is curious about the relationships between people and place. What we leave behind, the sites from the past that are visible; left by our relatives and neighbours, the memories kept within the place.
She has been supported in her work by many people and organisations particularly An Lanntair and Creative Scotland VACMA scheme.
Selected Exhibitions
2025 Group Show 40-40 An Lanntair
2024 Group show Ulaidgean/ Treasures Group show Scottish Society of
2022 Solo Show -Casruisg/ Barefooted An Lanntair
2021 Two person show - Eadar Muir is Tìr CNS Ness Isle of Lewis
2020 Online exhibition- Pause Scottish Society of Artists
2016 Le Mùirn group exhibition The Briggait Glasgow
2013 Solo show, Museum of Modern Art, Tabernacle Machynlleth, Wales
2012 Corridor show, AGA Amsterdam
2010 Group show TIR, Oriel Plan Glyn y Weddw Wales
2008, 2009, 2012 Group Show Rendezvous Gallery, Aberdeen
2007 Two Person show with Calum Angus Mackay Suathadh Dileab/ Touching Heritage An Lanntair
1992 Two person show with Mary Morrison New work An Lanntair
1992 Solo Show of works on paper, Ifusagi Haz, Pecs, Hungary
1996 Solo show Dunedin Gallery, Edinburgh
Commissions, Projects
2021-2022 Làn Tide Project for Climate Beacon audio works based on collaboration collaborating climate scientist Dr James Pope Met office
2022 Cosàn Gabhla Outdoor event with poets and visual artists- Installation piece
2019-2022 Artists Support, for An Lanntair Arts Centre, Isle of Lewis
2020 Mapping Project - Recovering lost place names, An Lanntair
2016 Le Mùirn- Paintings about the songs of Murdo MacFarlane - Glasgow life
2014 Collaborative project with elderly community Memory Books An Lanntair
2006 Sculpture on the theme of home, Mac TV arts documentary
2000-2003 An Turas artist/ architect commission, for Tiree Art Enterprises
1998 Site specific installation, commission Eolas TV arts documentary
Artists Residencies
2011 AGA Amsterdam, printmaking workshop
2010 Arts Navigare, group sailing residency aboard SV Helena, Cherbourg to Kiel
2009 TIR residency at Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Wales
2009 Dwelling Places, Art workshops with community groups, Kampala Uganda
2005/2006 GASD National Gaelic Arts Project, Isle of Lewis
1996 Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Aberdeen International Young Artists Festival
Production Design/ film making
2021 Production designer short film Cum Sul Orm, for Corran Media
2021 Production Designer short film Piano, for Mac TV
2013/14 Workshops making 4 short films with young people Cinèma Cent Ans de Jeunesse Filmhouse Edinburgh
Further Education
1990 Grays School of Art, Aberdeen BA(hons) Sculpture
2000 Central St Martins School of Art and Design MA Scenography/ Performance
About the Artist
Photo by Shannon Tofts.
Re-Soundings is presented here as part of the Hulabhaig Collection by kind permission of the artist.
Mhairi Killin
Mhairi works with drawing, print, sculpture and installation in an ongoing exploration of the landscapes that surround her and are her home. Her practice seeks to understand place from a specific perspective; one of inquiry into how belief structures - religious, mythopoeic, and socio-political - have shaped the physical and metaphysical landscapes she journeys through.
Residencies on several of the neighbouring islands to her home on Iona have developed her perception of island environments “as historical and mythological sites of convergence between elemental forces of nature, human life and the divine”.1 Through a digging down into the cultural ideology of place, her practice explores a consideration of “ the known world and the unknown world; one world viewed from a socio-historical perspective, and the other seen fleetingly through the wilderness, from a mythopoeic perspective”.2
Past work has explored the iconoclasm of the Reformation and its impact on the auditory landscapes of the islands of Lewis and Iona, http://www.resoundings.com
A recent focus has been on the presence of the MoD in the Hebrides and throughout 2021/2022, she has worked on a project commissioned by COMAR in partnership with the Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust and in collaboration with composer Fergus Hall researching the impact of anthropogenic sound, during the NATO exercise Joint Warrior, on the behaviour of cetaceans in the Sea of the Hebrides.
The project sits within a wider question as to whether we can consider the extensive presence of the MoD in the Hebrides as a form of extraction; specifically has this very particular presence resulted in or been facilitated by a psychological disarticulation between a particular culture and its immediate environment and if so, what are the impacts on the ethnic and natural ecologies of that landscape?
1. Coburn, G. (2013) Geopoetics Journal, Stravaig #2. Retrieved from http://www.geopoetics.org.uk/online-journal/stravaig-issue-2/
2. Bateman, M (2012) The Otherworld. Series of Lectures. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, UHI, 2012
Education
1996 — 1999
Glasgow University, Certificate in Field Archaeology with Distinction
1990 — 1992
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art
Master of Philosophy, Public Art
1986 — 1990
Glasgow School of Art
BA Honours, Constructed Textiles
Awards/Grants
2022
The Space/Creative Scotland Commission for ‘On Sonorous Seas’
2020
a-n Artist Bursary
2020
VACMACreative Scotland/Argyll & Bute Council
2016
Open Project Funding, Creative Scotland, Re Soundings Project
2015
Elected to the Royal Scottish Academy
2015
Open Project Funding, Creative Scotland, Re Soundings Project
2012
Development Funding, Creative Scotland: 6°WEST Collective
2011
Development Funding, Creative Scotland: 6°WEST Collective
2010
Development Funding, HI-Arts: 6°WEST Collective
2007
The Scottish Arts Council, Creative Development Award
2006
Visual Artists Awards Scheme, HI Arts
2004/2005
Whelk Leader Plus
Argyll & the Islands Enterprise Grant
SJ Noble Trust
The Highland Fund
1997
Argyll & the Islands Enterprise Grant
The Highland Fund, Business Start Up
1994
The Scottish Arts Council Travel Award
1993
The Scottish Arts Council Exhibition Grant
1992
The British Council Research Grant
The Scottish Arts Council Travel Award
The Prince’s Trust Go & See Award
The Matthew Trust Travel Award
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
In Search of the Pluriverse, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
2022
On Sonorous Seas, Lead artist multi disciplinary collaborative project
2021
Pandemonium, An Tobar, COMAR, Isle of of Mull
2020
Artists in Isolation,, Royal Scottish Academy, online
2018
The Erraid Residency, Scottish Art Club, Edinburgh Art Festival & An Lanntair, Stornoway
2018
Erraid Early Works, Demarco European Art Foundation, Summerhall, Edinburgh Art Festival
2017
Ages of Wonder, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2016
Re Soundings, An Lanntair, Stornoway and St. Moluag’s Chapel, Isle of Lewis and St. Oran’s Chapel, Isle of Iona
2015
Erraid, No. 2, The Street, Isle of Erraid
2013
Impact 8, International Print Conference, DJCAD
2013
Resident 13, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2013
Innis Choinnich, An Lanntair, Stornoway
2012
Drawing from the Landscape, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2012
Pilgrimage, St. Triduana Chapel, Edinburgh Art Festival
2011
Inch Kenneth, St. Oran’s Chapel, Iona
2011
Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2011
Perceptions, Dovecot, Edinburgh
2009
Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Power Station, London
2009
Glasgow Art Fair, George Square, Glasgow
2009
Visual Arts Scotland, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh
2008
Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2002-2011
An Leabhar Mor, collaborative book project, exhibited in GOMA Glasgow, Ireland, Canada, France, Vienna, Russia & USA
Solo Exhibitions
2013
Dìlinn, The Philosopher’s Knoll, Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada
2009/2010
Absent Voices, Collin’s Gallery, Glasgow, Bonhoga, Shetland, An Tobar, Isle of Mull
2006
Long Night Moon - The Rhythm of Remembrance, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh, An Tobar Gallery, Isle of Mull
1994
Balance, Summerlee Heritage Museum, Glasgow
Residencies
March 2020
Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Interdisciplinary Residency
August 2017
Interdisciplinary Residency - Hospitalfield, Arbroath
June 2017
“Back to Basics” Self directed residency, ARTELES, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
2017
“Lie of the Land” Research residency, North Uist
2015/2016
“Re Soundings” Residencies and programme of public engagement on the Isles of Lewis and Iona
2015
“Erraid” Island Residency with 6°WEST Collective
2013
Leighton Artists’ Colony, Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada
2012/2013
Creative Scotland/RSA Residency, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye
2011
Research & development residency, Inch Kenneth with artist collective, 6°WEST
2011
RSA Residencies for Scotland, Taigh Chearsabhagh, North Uist
2006 & 2010
Cove Park: research & development residency
Research
1994
Contemporary public and community art in Northwest America
Funded by the Scottish Arts Council
1992
Contemporary public and community art in Scandinavia
Funded by the Scottish Arts Council
1992
Cultural activities in the Baltic Republics, British Council funded
Publications
2016
Re-Soundings Graphical House, 2016. ISBN 978-0-9565200-8-1
2013
Rethinking Highland Art: The Visual Significance of Gaelic Culture/ Sealladh as ùr air Ealain na Gàidhealtachd: Brìgh Lèirsinn ann an Du alchas nan Gàidheal Royal Scottish Academy, 2013. ISBN 978-0-905783-24-6
2002
An Leabhar Mor, The Great Book of Gaelic, Canongate Books, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN I-84195-249-4
1996
The City is a Work of Art, The Scottish Sculpture Trust, 1996. ISBN 0-9516146 4-9
1992
Out of the Frame, Crafts Council, London, 1992. ISBN 1-870145-08
Reviews
2013
Resident 13, The Glasgow Herald, 14th September
2012
Pilgrimage, Edinburgh Art Festival, Studio International, MK Palomar, August
2012
Drawing from the Landscape, Georgina Coburn in Northings, 3rd July
2011
Inch Kenneth, Giles Sutherland, in Northings, 21st October
2011
Perceptions, The Scotsman, 11th April
2010
Absent Voices, The List, 18th May
2009
Visual Arts Scotland, The Scotsman, 12th February
2009
Absent Voices, Georgina Coburn, in Northings, 3rd July
Collections
The Boswell Collection of Scottish Art, University of St. Andrews
The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
Centre for Artist’s Books, Visual Research Centre, DCA, Dundee
Private collections in USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, UK, Scandinavia
Professional Practice
1997 — Present
Practising artist and creative director of Aosdàna, Isle of Iona
2012 — 2015
Trustee & Board Member, Comar, Isle of Mull
2010 — 2012
Board Member, An Tobar Arts Centre, Mull
2011
Specialist Advisor to HI-Arts Awards Panel
1994 — 1997
Artistic Director, community arts project for Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
1995/4
Artist in Schools Residencies, West Lothian District Council.
1996/94
Visiting Lecturer, GSA, DJCA, Leith School of Art, Edinburgh.
About the Artist
During my period of curating exhibitions at Baile na Cille church in Uig, I was keen to include audio visual work as much as possible and Fraser’s enigmatic imagery of an abandoned home in his film ‘Tiugainn Dachaidh’ fitted perfectly. Submitted to the Uig Open Winter Online Exhibition I was pleased when our selectors chose it for the Reasort Estate award. Fraser then approached me with an idea for an immersive audio visual experience centred on the church itself. An experience I would have loved to have seen through, however the sale of the Baile na Cille church sadly prevented its progress.
https://frasermacbeath.squarespace.com/
Fraser MacBeath
Fraser MacBeath is an audiovisual artist, composer and field recordist from the Isle of Lewis. His practice looks in part to continue the legacy left by 20th-century field recordists who documented rural Scottish culture, while also using the material to create contemporary artworks that reflect modern realities.
Using the mediums of sound, film and installation, Fraser creates work which combines elements of sound art and ambient music with abstract film and immersive environments. His works often embody a dual nature. One which marries traditional elements with contemporary audiovisual technology. Creating narratives which weave past and present, evoking reflections on memory, sense of place, cultural identity, and the relationship between tradition and modernity.
Education
Master of Design 2021, Sound For The Moving Image, The Glasgow School of Art, Distinction (First Class).
Bachelor of Arts w/Honors 2022, Audio Production, SAE Institute Glasgow, 2.1 (Upper Second).
Awards
Royal Scottish Academy 197th Annual Exhibition, RSA Benno Schotz Prize for the most promising work by a Scottish artist under 35.
Hulabhaig Uig Open, Rèasort Estates Award, 2021.
About the Artist
I met Calum Angus in his office in Stornoway, to pick up a print I was buying for the collection. I’d recently seen his exhibition ‘Indigenous’ and was interested in a work called Frozen Bait that wasn’t in the exhibition but I had seen referenced in a book I was researching. His work intrigued me, and in particular his early still life work. So much so that it wasn’t long before I had committed to buying four of his photographs.
https://www.instagram.com/calumangusmackay/
Calum Angus Mackay
Calum Angus MacKay combines a crofting life in the Western Isles with a career in Gaelic broadcasting and his activities as a photographer.
In the past he has used wild and domesticated animals as subject matter, making reference to local history and folklore. He manages to produce work that is not nostalgic or sentimental.
In his recent exhibition ‘Indigenous’ at An Lanntair in Stornoway, much of his new work provides a fascinating insight into the generations of his own family as well as the crofting communities from where he was brought up.
About the Artist
‘Pentland Guardian’ is probably the best piece of conceptual art that I’ve seen since moving to the Isle of Lewis. A statement I’m happy to stand by, but find difficult to justify. It shouldn’t be, it’s a photograph of a man wearing a cardigan with a bucket on his head covered with sheep’s wool, what’s not to like, I love it. For me conceptual art is the most powerful form of visual art, it draws me in, it asks questions which rarely have answers, there’s a need to find out more and delve deeper, I guess my logical mind needs answers so the artwork sends me on a journey and researching Danielle Macleod and her ‘Guardians’ didn’t disappoint.
https://www.daniellemacleodphoto.com/
Danielle Macleod
The Guardians is a series of 5 performance photographs created by Danielle Macleod for her ‘Guardians’ series, it was born from anti-religion and the artists need to understand her own spirituality.
The Pentland Guardian captures her own personal journey to seek and reconnect with the wildness in a new way. It reminds us of the experiences that continually unveil themselves around us if we’re not afraid to step into the wild.
“Creating the Pentland Guardian was an exploration of being playful and embracing risk taking. The journey of creating this image has informed the rest of my practice.”
Danielle Macleod is a mask maker and photographer based in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. Her photography draws on traditional Hebridean culture, local stories and her upbringing on a windswept and untamed island on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
After graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 2020, Danielle returned to her home island and began her current practice of creating wearable sculptures from foraged and discovered natural materials. These masks and costumes are photographed and become personifications of the outer and inner wild. The models bring to life creatures that exist in an otherworld, demonstrating connection to one’s culture, tradition and place. Through working with found materials and shooting outdoors, Danielle has continued to deepen her spiritual relationship to this environment.
The folklore of the Hebrides has a rich oral tradition which generates stories that grow and change over time. Danielle’s images interpret this folklore in an alternative way that pays homage to these traditions in a visual format, and these stories she draws upon can continue to be reimagined as time moves on.
Education
Communication Design, Glasgow School of Art BA (Hons), 2016–2020
Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions • Legacy: Group Show for FLOW Photofest, Highland Print Studio, Inverness 2021 • RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture, Edinburgh, 2022 • Street Level Open, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, 2022 • Na Boireannaich, by Danielle Macleod & Alice Macmillan, An Lanntair, 2022.
Solo Exhibitions • Guardians by Danielle Macleod, Island Darkroom, 2021 • Guardians by Danielle Macleod, McCallum Art House, Fort WIlliam, FLOW PHOTOFEST, 2021
Awards
The Scottish Artists’ Benevolent Association Award, 196th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition
About the Artist
Andy collaborated with Giles Perring in the touring exhibition ‘Exposure’, and although not island based (he lives and works in London), the works he produced for ‘Exposure’ were all conceived during his time in residency on the Isle of Jura. His work ‘Into the Light’ from his Blue Jura series was gifted to the collection after the show at Baile na Cille church in 2021.
Andy Metcalf
Andy’s paintings for ‘Exposure’ fell into three series. BLUE JURA comprises work made in London about the island. SOUNDS OFF is evoked by hearing the sounds from the World Organ playing as Giles worked on his emerging soundscape and WANDERERS originated in the first long residency on the island.
Andy Metcalf is a painter and film maker, known for his bold painting, installation work, and innovative film making, as well as his work for the BBC and for Channel 4. His pioneering TV work, is typified by ‘Welcome to the Spiv Economy’ [which Giles scored with Guy Evans], which was a centre piece of the London Barbican’s 2018 film season ‘The Television Will Be Revolutionised’ ‘Exposure’ has one central collaboration between himself and Giles working together on the suite of six short films, made on Jura over 18 months. The dialogue about ‘Exposure’ – with other collaborators – had often been about the implacable ‘brute’ force of the landscape/weather of Jura and how that impacts on us as ‘vulnerable’ human beings. One result of this dialogue is that he have made one series of paintings , ‘Sounds Off’, which are a response to Giles’s World Organ, made as he worked in the studio on Jura, wrapped up in this soundscape.
About the Artist
Photo by Alastair White
I visited Mary's studio on a bright clear March afternoon, I met her at her cottage, overlooking the Harris sound, as we walked down to her studio at her parents house she pointed out the future location of her soon to be built ‘Live in Studio’. You can’t beat the wonderful fast flowing onslaught of ideas and concepts that flows from an artist in their studio, as Mary was flicking through old archived work, offering insights into her creative process and influences, I was catching snippets of new directions in current work, thoughts on work that had stalled, work that was waiting for resolution, all while drinking in the smell of paint thickening the creative air. I could have spent all day listening, looking and sensing, but a choice had to be made…
https://www.marymorrison.co.uk/
Mary Morrison
Mary Morrison is from the Outer Hebrides and much of her work draws from the space, light and elemental qualities which are unique to the islands. Her work suggests liminal spaces, edges, tidal lines - always shifting. She evokes a sense of place and natural forms through the use of materials which include oil, pigment and beeswax. Fluid paint effects often combine with graphic elements and annotation relating to mapping, measuring and music, creating an additional visual language and a tension within the paintings.
"I have recently moved back to the Isle of Harris where I grew up, after living away for most of my adult life. Along with profound personal and professional changes, this is now eliciting subtle but important shifts in my practice. Although my work over many years has been informed by this landscape and my relationship with it, it was from a distance and through the lens of dislocation.
Now I am here, immersed in this landscape and untangling the layers of identity relating to place, family, heritage, Gaelic language and community. These feed into my work both directly and indirectly and there is a re-evaluation going on, a conscious desire to develop a practice which is truly place based.
Some Gaelic words relate to concepts which I find useful to consider. Brigh /br-EEh/ is a Gaelic word which has various meanings including: essence, meaning, sense, significance and energy. 'The word brigh is often used when talking about songs and other works of art, and tells us something about the Gaelic aesthetic, in which meaning is the most important thing, rather than how beautiful something is.'
Moving back to Harris means I am engaged directly with the landscape here, acutely aware of sea, sky and weather shifts across the seasons, activating that 'string in the body' and the 'resonance of the hidden journey'."
About the Artist
I visited Màiri’s studio when she was living in High Borve on the north west coast of Lewis, she gave me a tour of her studio and I could see straight away how enthusiastic she was about her practice. I later invited her to create work for a show at Baile na Cille church in 2021 called ‘Plastic’ where I invited several island artists to respond to the issue of plastic within our environment. Màiri focused on a positive benefit of the material, using up-cycled animal feed tubs in her installation ‘Plastaig’ to hint at the ways crofters have always recycled and reused the materials to hand.
Màiri NicGillìosa
Màiri is an artist and Gaelic woman from the Lowlands of Scotland. She has a strong sense of home in the Gaeltachd and currently lives in Uig on the Isle of Lewis.
Her work spans across different mediums often with sculptural outcomes and her creative practice is embedded and embodied in ‘Place’, exploring Gaelic ways of seeing and our relationships between species and spaces.
"My arts practice is quiet activism, feminist in energy and strongly informed by Gael identity. I explore the Gaelic-feminist landscape - a space that considers how culture and nature interact, and how social relations are shaped by the land, belonging sensitively to a wider ecosystem.
I spend time outside in the landscape where I live in Lewis, moving bodily through the seasons, interacting with bedrock, flora, fauna and exploring the connections with people who have been in the same spaces before me- only separated by time.."
Màiri studied Sculpture at Edinburgh Collage of Art, Horticulture at SRUC and has a postgraduate Masters degree in 'Learning and Teaching Gaelic Arts' with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Career Summary
2022 Culture Collective project for Creative Scotland, Exploring island colour with Jon Macleod
2021 July - January 2022 Artist in residence, Tobar an Dualchais and ATLAS arts
2020 – 2022 – Artist residency in the community. Bord na Ghaidhlig (Year of Coasts and Waters) the outcome of which can be seen at www.ealainaite.com
2020 – commissioned to take part in An Lanntair’s ‘Ainm Aite’ Gaelic Placename Project, for Borve, High Borve and Mealbost.
2019 – present - Teaching Art Practitioner for An Lanntair arts Centre, producing interpretation for Gallery Packs, teaching an adult education courses (including creative journaling, Gaelic Month and as part of their Dark Skies Festivals).
2019 Sessional artist for Comunn nan Gàidhlig in Ard Sgoil MhicNeacail, Gaelic unit.
2018 July - Sessional arts educator for Ceòlas (Eriskay and South Uist)
2018 -2021 Masters in Learning and Teaching (Gaelic Arts), Royal Conservatoire Scotland
2017-2018 - Specialist grower for Pyrus Botanicals (Botanical Installation Artists)
2013- 2018 - Development Officer for Scotland, Royal Horticultural Society (Community
Outreach team)
2007 - 2010 John Hope Gateway Exhibitions Curator, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
2005 -2007 Research Horticulturist in Indoor Living Collections at Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.
2004-2005 - Studied HNC in Horticulture with Plantsmanship (Scottish Agricultural College (now SRUC) and RBGE)
2000-2004 - Studied Honours degree in Sculpture (B/A Hons) at Edinburgh College of Art.
Visual Arts Milestones
- 2019 ‘Critic’s Choice’ award winner (first place) Grinneas nan Eilean exhibition with Piobaireachd Cruibaige sculptures
- 2018 Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award funding awarded from Creative Scotland for a period of research and development towards a body of new work
- 2016 Specialist exhibition display opens as part of Bombay Sapphire visitor centre, Laverstoke, England
- 2015 Private commission of artworks for Tickton Grange Hotel
- 2012 March Feature Artist of the month, www.artplantaetoday.com
- 2011 January-April Exhibited alongside Andy Goldsworthy in Peter Potter Gallery,
- Haddington, East Lothian.
- 2010 July – September Solo exhibition as part of Edinburgh Art Festival ‘ Natura
- sensus ’ at Atticsalt Gallery, Edinburgh.
- 2010 Commissioned to produce permanent exhibition diorama of preserved plant
- specimens for Glenmore Visitor Centre, Highlands.
- 2010 February - April Solo exhibition ‘ Locus imperialis ’ at Cameo Cinema Bar,
- 2009 October Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh opens the new visitor centre ‘The
- John Hope Gateway’ with three exhibition spaces curated by Mairi Gillies.
- 2008 March Solo exhibition ‘ Biomimetic spectra’ at Atticsalt Gallery, Edinburgh
- 2005 Exhibited as part of ‘Sense of Place’ at Nottdance, Nottingham Festival
- 2004 July – August Exhibited as part of ‘Fire and Brimstone’ at The Embassy Gallery
- 2004 June Degree show, Edinburgh College of Art
- 2004 February Awarded RSA Adam Bruce Award for ‘ Spring Onion Colour Wheel ’
- Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
- 2002 November Exhibited in joint show at Roxy Art House, Edinburgh
Publications and interviews
‘Plant, Landscape, Nature: Artist, Horticulturist, Mother’ in PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature,
no.9 (2012), pages 55, 56.
http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=534122363321313;res=IELHSS
Art Plantae (2012)
Press
Review of solo show Biomimetic Spectra at Atticsalt Gallery, Edinburgh
"This gem of a show contrasts the urban setting of the gallery with art which embraces nature, utilising flowers and feathers. There is much more to this show than pretty flowers however. Throughout we see the skill of the artist in her ability to take organic materials complementing and contrasting them with the synthetic and the industrial...This is a wonderful exhibition that makes excellent use of the internal gallery space and causes the visitor to engage more fully with the environment outside. Highly recommended."
The Skinny 6 March 2008
Review of artwork Formorgyn in the exhibition Fire and Brimstone at The Embassy Gallery, Edinburgh
"...but Mairi Gillies’ Formorgyn is most spectacular. A sculptural representation of some eerie machine which siphons colouring from central test tubes and into trapped flowers (or perhaps vice versa). It’s another astute comment on science subjugated by nature and the deserved centrepiece of a fine show."
The Scotsman 13 July 2004
About the Artist
In 2021 I had the pleasure of co-curating a touring exhibition with Kirsty Law called ‘Exposure’ at Baile na Cille church in Uig. A collaboration between musician, sound artist and photographer Giles Perring and filmmaker and painter Andy Metcalf, with work carried out, principally, on the Isle of Jura. Kirsty had seen one of Hulabhaig’s earlier curated shows at the church and had immediately contacted me asking to bring her touring show to Uig. An opportunity I couldn’t miss. And in return Giles gifted me one of his approval prints (Pelt), which I’m now proud to include in the collection.
Giles Perring
Giles Perring is a musician, composer, educator and cross media artist. He is founder member of the sonic sculpture collective Echo City.
Their pioneering work in the creation of giant outdoor musical instruments and participatory music making, via their sonic playgrounds, saw them traverse play, performance, community and inclusive arts, installation art and recording over a career that began in Bethnal Green London, in 1983.
As well as his work in Echo City, Giles has worked in sound and multimedia installations with collaborators like Susie Honeyman, John Cayley and Melanie Pappenheim. Giles and Susie installed the sound work ‘Marsh Music’ in their joint show with Jock MacFadyen, Iain Sinclair and Anthony Gormley at London’s Wapping Project, which they followed up with a Jerwood Commission for music to accompany ‘Black Flag’, an exhibition of monolithic images by photographer Annabel Elgar at the Wapping Project. With the digital text artist John Cayley and the singer Melanie Pappenheim, he has created various works for installation in the UK, Brazil, US and Germanys and online.
His composition credits include commissions for Salisbury Festival Chorus and La Folea, Covent Garden Festival, and in 2011, The Tall Ships Race. He composed a very successful portfolio of music for the Extreme Music Library which located his work in TV shows like ‘Sex and The City’ and ‘Lost’. As a performer, he has worked with performers and groups as diverse as industrial music’s enfant terrible Fad Gadget/Frank Tovey, the electronica duo Unmen, which he founded with Nick Cash, award winning contemporary choir The Shout, and free jazz titan Alan Wilkinson.
Since the turn of the 80's, Giles Perring [born 1961] has explored a variety of musical arenas and media, frequently crossing borders into other artforms.
In 1983, as a percussionist and instrument inventor he was founder [with long time collaborator Guy Evans] of sonic sculpture and participatory music making collective Echo City, going on to produce pioneering performances, based on a manifesto of providing access to music making for all, that won acclaim in the UK, North America, the Far East and Europe.
He has worked as a 'hired gun' at various points in his career. In the 80's he spent two years as electric guitarist and percussionist for electronica's enfant terrible Fad Gadget, he played with an incarnation of Van Der Graaf Generator in the 90's and in 2004 he performed with Damo Susuki of Can.
Following his time in Fad Gadget, he collaborated with the band's drummer Nick Cash to record and release a series of acclaimed records via their studio project Unmen.
On the London free improvised music scene, he performs on electric guitar in a number of contexts including Ya Basta whose line-up includes Alan Wilkinson and an exciting collaboration, 'Something Secret' with Carol Grimes.
Since 1998 he has worked with London based choir The Shout [Time Out Classical Performers of the Year in 2001] in a role which might be described as 'percussionist' [although the term belies the unusual instrumentation he brings to the task]. From this relationship has stemmed a number of performances with Shout composer Richard Chew, including Unearth at the MAC in Birmingham in 2004.
Since 1983, Giles has worked in the field of Learning Disabled Arts, both as a facilitator and as a published academic. He most recently worked for Europe's premier learning disabled arts project Heart'n'Soul as a music facilitator and artistic director.
Giles writes and composes music for radio, TV and film, including BBC Radio 4's award winning 'The Tin Drum'; a score for Stan's Café's 2002 silent movie 'Framed' and most recently the music and sound design for BBC1 documentary series 'Dangerous Passions'. His work is also to be found in 'Sex and The City', Malcolm In The Middle', 'Lost', 'Desperate Housewives' and 'The Blue Planet'. In the autumn of 2004, with Susie Honeyman, he composed for a Jerwood commission to accompany Annabel Elgar's photographic installation 'Black Flag' at the Wapping Project. He has also branched out into production, at the invitation of Ginny Clee, to produce two songs on her 2004 album 'Hold On Tight'.
He also works regularly in the field of multimedia with digital text artist John Cayley and, in addition to numerous web based projects, examples of this work have been installed at Platform [2001], 'P0es1s' at the Kulturforum in Berlin [2004] and at Gallery 1926 in Chicago [2004].
Since 2001 he has developed a multimedia performance project, 'The Exchange', an event for a live musician and telephone callers, which he most recently presented as a commission for Modern Art Oxford in 2003.
Most recent work includes a sound art and choral piece for Stans Café Theatre at the 2006 Creative Partnership's National Conference; a sound installation with Melanie Pappenheim for the Artists In The City sound work in Reading, and a 30 minute dance score for former Merce Cunningham collaborator Emma Diamond. In October 2007 the culmination of a two year production project with Carol Grimes, 'Something Secret', was released to critical acclaim.
Future work includes a commission for Sarum Chamber Orchestra to be performed in March 2008.
About the Artist
I first saw Deljeem’s work when he exhibited ‘Cearns’ at the Island Darkroom here in my home village of Achmore, immediately I was impressed as I was seeing a different side of ‘urban’ island life, rarely explored by artists on these islands. The Image of ‘John Ross’ stood out for me and I felt compelled to include it in the collection. Collecting art is such a personal thing and it seems artworks can sometimes choose you. The very next day I visited our local industrial suppliers in Stornoway and parked next to a familiar Morris Minor. A chance meeting inside the shop and an opportunity to say hello to Donald, one of Deljeem’s other ‘Cearns’ subjects would add another work to the collection.
Deljeem Rai
The Cearns, is a project where Deljeem has been exploring the complexities not only of community life but also of his own identity. Growing up in Nepal and moving to Scotland as a teenager he has experienced the push and pull of a dual identity and this project has allowed him to explore his place here in Scotland, within an island community that has welcomed his family.
“My place here feels solid because at the end of the day I am a Cearnie.”
Deljeem Rai, originally from Nepal is currently studying photography at the City of Glasgow College. His work has gained significant recognition, including the British Journal of Photography Portrait of Britain Award in 2023 and 2024, and a finalist position in the Scottish Portrait Awards in 2023. His images have been exhibited across Scotland in notable galleries such as the Scottish Art Club in Edinburgh, Kirkcudbright Gallery in Dumfries and Galloway, and The Glasgow Art Club.