EXPERIMENTAL
MONEY
A client, having seen work at my degree show based on Scottish Dialect, requested a piece of work similar in nature that would sum up the question of money. The following work was inspired by that commission. After much deliberation I got lucky. An elderly hairdressing client and I were having a conversation and she quite naturally volunteered the following phrase.
"MONEY ISNI IVRITHIN BUTITSA HELLUVA HANDY THING FUR GON THE MESSAGES”
My reaction was “this is brilliant” exactly what I was looking for, not contrived but a natural expression.
I have written and spelt the phrase, with words running into one another, as it was spoken in the Scottish Dialect.
From this phrase I completed a number of works, some are sold and unfortunately I did not take photographic evidence before parting with them. My opinion is that the subject of money is a wide area to explore in the making of art, particularly in the present economic climate.
“THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT” Is a pencil drawing, each of the butterflies or moths painstakingly drawn and repeated. Included in the drawing is a version of the above phrase from the elderly client. The ideas conjured by this phrase included the often repetitive work many people have to engage in to make a living. I also liked the jokey idea of moths flying from an infrequently opened purse.
“WHEN A BUTTERFLY FLAPS ITS’ WINGS” This piece is also inspired by the idea of money and links into the current global financial crises and chaos theory. It is a boxed piece, the background composed of various cuttings from newspapers and magazines on elements and effects of the financial crises. Superimposed on top of this background are Origami butterflies made from U.S. dollars and a page from my cheque book.
“LIQUIDATION” Is a drawing using fractals, repeated images and a scientific drawing of a black hole. A black hole consumes all matter. "MONEY DOON A BLACK HOLE ", is a colloquial phrase within Scottish dialect, describing a situation when money is tight, or money seems to disappear too easily. The phrase “MONEY ISNI IVRITHIN BUTITSA HELLUVA HANDY THING TAE HUV” disappears down the black hole. The fractal image of the snowflake refers to a light hearted phrase in Scots Dialect, again referring to money, or more importantly the lack of it, “MONEY’S LIKE SNAW AFFA DYKE” In other words money disappears rapidly. It’s easier to get rid of money than it is to acquire it.
SKULLS
"SKULLS" The project initially was a request from a local arts organisation to local artists inviting them to produce a piece of work inspired by sheep. I was not too inspired by the subject in the beginning, however the remit hovered at the back of my brain, I needed to rise to the challenge.
“SHEEPS HEID” Was developed from the remit. I was already in possession of part of a lambs skull, a found object, from a hill walk some time ago. Knowledge of DAMIEN HIRSTS’ treatment of the diamond encrusted platinum human skull inspired me to do a low tec version on the lambs' skull. As the lambs' skull was incomplete I then decided to source a complete sheep’s skull. The title for the piece was developed from Scottish Dialect.
In days gone by my mother-in-law made Potted Hough, or Pottit Heid, from the boiling of a Sheep’s Heid, a cheap but nourishing meal for working folk.
Hough means shin and I believe this is the part of the animal used today, since the incidences of B.S.C. it is not practice to use the head or brains of an animal.
After acquiring the skull, I then encrusted it with SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS, a slow and painstaking process. However the process transformed the skull into a quite different object. It was interesting to see people’s reactions to this idea. Initially it was disgust and disbelief at using a skull as material for an art piece. This reaction changed to admiration as the skull was transformed by the application of the crystals.
Perhaps that says something about our values, by the application of a bit of bling, an object reviled becomes an object of admiration.
There is perhaps a Beauty and Beast theme going on. Or are we elevating the status of the common sheep, and the common man?
The piece is mounted on black felt covered MDF and protected by a custom made acrylic cover. It is designed to be wall mounted.
The crystals are white to depict diamonds, COAL is sometimes called black diamond.
COAL used to be a major industry in Scotland, since the Thatcher years this is no longer so.
The horns are covered in Amethyst coloured stones, Amethyst can be found in the Scottish Highlands.
“DEAR DEER” Is a progression from “SHEEPS HEID” as I acquired a deer skull at the same time.
Again there is a play on words “DEAR” can be used as a term of affection, in Scottish dialect, "THAT'S TOO DEAR " is used to mean too expensive.
The colour of the stones was chosen both to represent the colour
of the deer and the Topaz which can also be found in the Scottish
Highlands. Again the piece is mounted on felt covered MDF, this
time midnight blue, and protected with a custom made acrylic
cover. It is also designed to be wall mounted.
WOOLLY JUMPERS
“WOOLLY JUMPERS” was developed from the same remit as “SHEEPS HEID” and was intended as a light hearted and humorous response to the remit.
There is also a play on words,
JUMPERS’ = SWEATERS OR PULLOVERS
JUMPERS’ = THINGS THAT JUMP = SHEEP
WOOLLY = THE FLEECE OF THE SHEEP
WOOLLY JUMPERS = SHEEP = SWEATERS OR PULLOVERS
The sheep in the piece were hand knitted wearing “woolly jumpers”. Miniature “woolly jumpers” were also hand knitted, and were then displayed on a wooden gate like structure, the sheep also mounted jumping over the gate. The gate was placed on a green hand knitted background.
The piece is mounted in a large box frame and is designed to be wall mounted.
COMMON HUMANITY
The two pieces in this section were developed from the old Scots phrase “WE ARE ALL JOCK TAMSINS' BAIRNS” Meaning we are all of common origin, brothers and sisters under the skin. In the piece “WIR AW JOCK TAMSINS BAIRNS” I have written and spelt the phrase as it is spoken in local dialect. I have also played with the idea of the genetic code, the genetic code is patterened within the words that make up the image. In the piece “JOCK TAMSINS BAIRNS” The work is collaged from maps of the area in which I live, these are then cut into dancing figures, depicting the Highland fling. However the figures are placed in such a way that the spaces between emulate the genetic code, or double helix.
LANDSCAPE INSPIRED
“ELEMENTAL LANDSCAPE” is inspired by a walking holiday in Iceland. The land of Fire and Ice.
The image is constructed and collaged from painted papers in the colours and textures of the landscape I walked in.
“SPLASH” was again inspired from the trip to Iceland, by observing the bubbling and boiling mud as it burst from the earths’ crust.
“PERISHT” was developed from an onsite drawing in my local landscape on a particularly cold day. In Scottish dialect people will often utter the words, when the weather is freezing, “I am perished” or in reality “Ahm Perisht”. Hence the change of spelling in order to give the reader the sound of the dialect. The piece is textured with mixed media and the work “PERISHT” is collaged on top.
“SCOTS MIST” is an abstract attempt at depicting the word “DREICH” The word “DREICH” Is one of the most expressive of Scottish Dialect words. Describing accurately the Scottish landscape in the grip of the drippy greyness of a typical foggy, wet, day.
The word “DREICH” has been drawn, painted, in mixed media, manipulated and overlaid to emulate the wisps of wet fog as they drift across the countryside.
“NEW HORIZONS, LANG WHANG” This piece
is a fairly straight forward look at the local landscape I
frequently pass through. I am often struck by the large skies
vistas as I drive along this road. After a visit to the Netherlands
I was inspired to attempt to capture this large sky vista.
INSPIRED BY SOUND
The pieces in this project were mainly inspired by the cacophony of sounds within the hairdressing salon in which I work. I was intrigued by the snatches of conversation overheard, particularly by the sound of conversations in the local dialect. The fragments of conversation combined with the dialect could sound to the stranger like an unknown language, a code.
“HANGING CONVERSATIONS” was developed from these ideas. It is an actual overhead and recorded conversation, broken into elements, like the periodic table. The letters are computer generated, printed and heat applied to muslin. This was an attempt at making the invisible visible. A conversation hanging in the air.
The painted boards “CODED CONVERSATIONS” and “CONVERSATION PIECE” are another attempt at coding the conversation. Again they are actual conversations coded out.
The drawing “CONVERSATION WAVE” Is a drawing of the wave of sounds the conversation made.