Mhairi Killin

Overview | Biography | Collection | Viewing Space

Overview

Re-Soundings is presented here as part of the Hulabhaig Collection by kind permission of the artist.

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

https://mhairikillin.com/

Photo by Shannon Tofts.

Re-Soundings*

2016

Re-Soundings*

2016

Cruinneachadh Hulabhaig

Artwork aquired for the Hulabhaig Collection of Island Contemporaray Art

Re-Soundings*

2016

Available Artworks

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Artist Biography

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.

Re-Soundings*

Mhairi Killin

2016
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.