‘Diary of a Cold Spell’
paintings by
Silvana McLean
jewellery by
Eileen Gatt
Exhibition at Designs Gallery 8th
October – 12th November 2016
‘Diary of a
Cold Spell’, an exhibition of paintings by artist Silvana McLean, opens on
Saturday 8th October at Designs Gallery, Castle Douglas .
This body of work is the result of a month long
residency Silvana spent in Iceland earlier in the year experiencing and
documenting through her sketches and paintings the remarkable landscape of this
extraordinary country.
She set off from Scotland at the end of February to
live in Siglufjordur, the northernmost town in North Iceland to paint, draw and
absorb the atmosphere and terrain of snowbound mountains, fjords and snowy
skies, returning home at the end of March just as the spring began to arrive in
the far North.
While away, she kept a journal and blog of her
experiences. Taking along her notebooks she absorbed herself in the
surroundings, her observations and sketches of
a northern landscape translated
into these remarkable paintings.
Freezing temperatures, powerful windspeeds, the gathering
light and the sounds of ice and snow made a deep impact on her senses the further
north she travelled.
The exhibition at Designs is timely
as we have now passed the autumnal equinox and are heading for our winter. In
Iceland the first snows have fallen on Mount Esja, not far from Reykjavik and
clearly visible from it. Birds will be leaving for the South and many will have
already left.
On a previous trip to Iceland Silvana recalls ‘One of the most moving sights I’ve
seen was one early October on the south coast of Iceland, one hundred or so
swans were flying over the mountains on their way to Caerlaverock and other
sites in Dumfriesshire – as it turned out. Their arrival was important
enough to feature on the news, serendipitously and oddly timed with my own
arrival home five days later to watch that news and find out I’d seen them
leaving. The sound of all those wings is unforgettable.’
A reminder that Iceland is a northerly neighbour.
The exhibition runs from 8th
October to 12th November and also features jewellery from Eileen
Gatt.
Eileen spent time in Alaska working with Inuit artists whose way of
perceiving art was very similar to her own, creating three dimensional interpretations of an idea which
is imaginary.
Eileen’s jewellery and silversmithing makes references to
these traditions, interpreting how these myths and superstitions are perceived
today.
Those familiar with her work will
recognize the simplicity and understatement of her silverwork with designs
which include polar bears, arctic hares, and new creations - penguins, all creatures of our
frozen polar regions.
