Speaking of sorrow
Northlight Gallery, Stromness, Orkney
25 February – 10 March 2022

This exhibition, Speaking of sorrow, presents the opening stages of a series of work responding to these recent times in which I have journeyed in dark places and emerged within the welcome embrace of a supportive community.

Each collage is assembled from scraps of ‘waste’ material repurposed during my ongoing efforts to lessen the earthly impact of my physical belongings: duplicate photos of loved ones and treasured memories, old wall-posters and art-prints, even packaging from foods and drinks regularly consumed within my household.

Sharing our tales of grief and loss, perhaps tentatively at first, seems somehow to ripen us as beings. We build our capacity to accept life as it is, to hold sorrow in our hearts and still be present with ourselves and each other, to be aware of and to enjoy each precious moment of now.

More info: northlight.artweb.com

Works on show:

• Presence
  Collage (2021). 40 cm X 40 cm.
  Made while discussing motherless mothering with my sisters.
• Terra
  Collage (2021). 40 cm X 40 cm.
  Made while seeking a unified experience through negotiations of housing and childcare.
• Well
  Collage (2021-22). 40 cm X 40 cm.
  Made while reaching the depths and returning safely.
• Honesty
  Collage (2021). 40 cm X 40 cm.
  Made while contemplating boundaries between the self, hearth, realm and beyond.
• Drain
  Collage (2021). 48.5 cm X 48.5 cm.
  Made while witnessing and stilling the rapid spin cycle of recent times.