‘Life On The Surface’
Oil on Canvas, 2012
About this work
When offered the opportunity to exhibition at the Shetland Museum and Archives I decided to tour the islands on bicycle to gain a sense of the local landscape. First impressions gave the sense of endless heathland but despite the difficult cycling conditions I soon began to appreciate the beauty of the local biome. I have long harboured a love of moss and lichen and this exhibition offered an ideal opportunity to indulge my interest. I returned to the islands several times to gather imagery and on each occasion I found new inspiration in the rocks and fauna.
The paintings are built up using seemingly random brush strokes but step back and the paintings start to merge into recognisable images of the Scottish landscape. They reference the aesthetic of a pixelated image and seek to highlight the diverse colour combinations of the lichens and moss.