Sandra Kennedy

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.

Sandra is a Gaelic speaker from the small village of Marvig in the South Lochs area Isle of Lewis, a very rugged landscape with sheltered sea lochs and a natural harbour.

Her local landscape and its wildlife provides her with inspiration and a love for art, and when she left school she went on to study sculpture at Grays School of Art. After college she was able to gain valuable experience in film animation and worked on projects across Scotland, leading on to an interest in storytelling, which then resulted in a post graduate degree in scenography (directing and designing performance) at Central St Martins.

Sandra works across multiple disciplines as required for each project but maintains a strong discipline to work based around drawing.

She has found that living on the island full time has required a willingness to adapt and improvise. This is reflected in the many ways she has been working over the years.

https://www.instagram.com/sandrakennedyart