Mary Morrison

Mary Morrison

Undersong 22nd August - 2nd October 2014

gallery events exhibitions

e - info@andcollective.co.uk w - andcollective.co.uk Maple House, 28 Henderson Street, Bridge of Allan, FK9 4HR

Mary Morrison

Undersong 22nd August - 2nd October 2014

Sea, Music and Mapping - Themes in the work of Mary Morrison Mary Morrison grew up in the Western Isles, and was drawn to exploring a sense of space and light which is particular to these islands. Aiming to combine a sense of place in the work with notation – variously suggesting mapping, measuring, music. Grid references, staves and tide tables recur in the work.

Where works have titles referring to specific locations, the intention is to draw on personal connections to these places in order to explore wider themes. Mary’s intention is not to render the topography of a landscape but rather to explore the relationship between the individual and the landscape that has shaped them, something you carry with you – a ‘geography of the mind’.

She is continually inspired by relationships between the written word – poetry in particular – and image, and some paintings have titles which respond to works by Kenneth White, and the Sufi poet, Rumi for example.

Iain Crichton Smith’s poem ‘Lewis’ goes some way to expressing the current preoccupations in the work: ‘It follows me, that black island without ornament, Which I am always questioning….

Sea, immortal waters, you are the harmony around us forever.

We exist in your music, In your blizzard of white gulls….

Wherever I am, you are with me, My music is the music of your stones, …

You are the book which I always study In sunsets over the Minch, You are my gaunt theme, my poem which burns in water.

Mary Morrison’s current practice is focussing on the word ‘Fonn’ as a link between the works. Fonn is a gaelic word with several meanings - ‘land, music, tune, state of mind’ - which echoes ongoing preoccupations in the work.

Echo I Oil, mixed media on canvas (1m x 1m) 2010

Echo II Oil, mixed media on canvas (1m x 1m) 2010

Undersong Oil, mixed media on paper (70cm h x 90cm w) 2014

Refrain Oil, mixed media on paper (70cm h x 90cm w) 2012

Refrain III Oil, mixed media on paper (50cm x 50cm) 2013

Gaunt Poem Oil, mixed media on paper (50cm x 50cm) 2014

Tidal Song I Oil, mixed media on paper (70cm h x 90cm w) 2010

Tidal Song II Oil, mixed media on paper (70cm h x 90cm w) 2010

Soundings Oil, mixed media on canvas (30cm x30cm) 2012

Mothlight Dreaming Oil, mixed media on board (30cm x30cm) 2012

Shaddow Map II Oil, mixed media on paper (65cm x 65cm) 2014

Coast (Blizzard of White Gulls) Oil, mixed media on paper (65cm x 65cm) 2014

Cosmos II Oil, mixed media on paper (65cm x 65cm) 2014

Nocturne Oil on paper (56cm x 56cm) 2014

Selected Exhibitions: 2014 Undersong - & Collective, Bridge of Allan 22nd August - 2nd October Fonn - An Lanntair, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. 10th May - 24th June 2010-2013: Paper Planes – works on paper by 16 artists, 17th August- 15th September 2013 The Cloudhouse Café and Gallery, Stow Casting the Net: Coast to Inland March/April 2013 Mission, Eyemouth & 1 Tower St Selkirk Rumi Festival – August 2013 RSA Open Exhibition - Royal Scottish Academy Nov 2012-Jan 2013 Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition – Royal Scottish Academy 2011-2013 2011 prize winner) Mellerstain Gallery Summer Show, Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders, August-September 2012 Breakwater Studio, Edinburgh –December 2012, April and December 2010 Way Installations: Artists Collaborative Project, Over Phawhope Bothy, Southern Upland Way April-June 2011 Inner Landscapes – Joint Show with glass artist Rachel O’Dell, Robson Gallery, Selkirk Aug 2011 Utopia – Artists Installations in a specially converted horsebox gallery. Touring Oct 2011 – Perth Visual Arts Forum, Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival, Heriot Toun Studio, Borders Sea Spirit, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries Aug 2010

Pre 2010: Atlantic Edge - Solo exhibition. Pringle Room, Old Gala House, Scottish Borders Aug-Sep 2009 Artist of the month - Timespan, Helmsdale, Sutherland May 2008 Voyages & Visions - Exhibition with Norman Shaw, Morven Gallery, Barvas, Isle of Lewis, July 1994 Shining Wall, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, April 1994 Paperworks III, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Oct 1993 Thall s’ a bhos, Isle of Harris Arts Festival, Aug 1993 Obair Ur – Joint Exhibition with Sandra Kennedy, An Lanntair Gallery, Stornoway, Oct 1992 Artists Collective Group Show, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh Festival 1991 181 Show, 181 Bow Road, London. Artist run Group Show – Aug 1991 New Generation Show, Compass Gallery, Glasgow, June 1991

Born 1967 and brought up on the Isle of Harris, Western Isles 1985-1990 Edinburgh University & Edinburgh College of Art Joint Degree MA (Hons) Fine Art 2:1 1989 Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Tours, France 1990-1991 Edinburgh College of Art Post Graduate Diploma in Painting (Distinction)