Mary Morrison
Photo by Alastair White
Mary Morrison
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…
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'."
Seaforth
Seaforth
‘S Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamraidh (I Feel the Winter Night is Long)* - Detail