PT 1 - ARTISTS
In part one of Looking North, four artists from across Scotland introduced us to various alternative ways of thinking about and engaging with conceptions of nature, landscape, and energy. By exploring the artists’ approaches and ideas, this talk series aims to move beyond mainstream narratives surrounding landscape and energy in Scotland which are often inextricably linked with extractive practices and exploitative dynamics between people and what is thought of as nature. Many believe that reframing our relationship to our surroundings and co-inhabitants should be at the very centre of environmental thought and change. Looking North hopes to contribute to this ongoing effort and dialogue.
ALEX BOYD
Alex Boyd, Saxon target wreck, Cape Wrath, Tir An Airm (Land of the Military)
For years, militarised landscapes have been a focus of photographer, researcher, and art historian Alex Boyd, who has explored parts of the Ministry of Defence’s estate – one of the biggest landowners in Scotland. Their estate includes the Hebridean range, which is still used for military tests and training – and therefore not always or fully accessible despite Scotland’s right to roam. Tir An Airm (Land of the Military) bears visual witness to Alex’s visits and provides a context in which one can explore a wide range of environmental themes and questions that come up regarding “Scottish landscape” and the ethics of energy.
SEKAI MACHACHE
Sekai Machache, Light Divine Sky II, 2021. Photography by Antanas Budvytis.
Sekai Machache (she/her) is a Zimbabwean-Scottish visual artist and curator based in Glasgow. Her work is a deep interrogation of the notion of self, in which photography plays a crucial role in supporting an exploration of the historical and cultural imaginary. Aspects of her photographic practice are formulated through digital studio based compositions utilising body paint and muted lighting to create images that appear to emerge from darkness.
MHAIRI KILLIN
Mhairi Killin, On Sonorous Seas, 2018 - Present
Iona-based artist Mhairi Killin is the creative director of Aosdàna, which provides affordable workspaces for nine island microbusinesses while continuing a 120-year tradition of making jewellery on Iona. Living on Iona exerts a distinct influence on Mhairi’s artistic practice, which explores the physical and metaphysical spaces that surround her, taking into account the multi-faceted belief structures – religious, mythopeic, and socio-political – which shape them.
SOPHIE GERRARD
Sophie Gerrard, Patricia's blackfaced ewes with windfarm turbines, January 2013
Sophie Gerrard’s work has been evolving for 14 years, and is characterised by sensitive and evocative visual exploration of the natural environment and landscape and our relationship to it. The central concerns of her work are people, environmental connection, identity and belonging, drawing from archives and personal narratives. Her work is often as much an exploration of others’ lives and connections with landscape as her own.