Mary Morrison is from the Outer Hebrides and much of her work draws from the space, light and elemental qualities which are unique to the islands. Her work suggests liminal spaces, edges, tidal lines – always shifting.She evokes a sense of place and natural forms through the use of materials which include oil, pigment and beeswax. Fluid paint effects often combine with graphic elements and annotation relating to mapping, measuring and music, creating an additional visual language and a tension within the paintings.
“I have recently moved back to the Isle of Harris where I grew up, after living away for most of my adult life. Along with profound personal and professional changes, this is now eliciting subtle but important shifts in my practice. Although my work over many years has been informed by this landscape and my relationship with it, it was from a distance and through the lens of dislocation. Now I am here, immersed in this landscape and untangling the layers of identity relating to place, family, heritage, Gaelic language and community. These feed into my work both directly and indirectly and there is a re-evaluation going on, a conscious desire to develop a practice which is truly place based.
Some Gaelic words relate to concepts which I find useful to consider. Brìgh /br-EEh/ is a Gaelic word which has various meanings including: essence, meaning, sense, significance and energy. ‘The word brìgh is often used when talking about songs and other works of art, and tells us something about the Gaelic aesthetic, in which meaning is the most important thing, rather than how beautiful something is.’ [i]
Poetry and music inspire and inform my work. The title of this exhibition comes from the first verse of a Gaelic poem by Donald MacAulay, which he has titled ‘Strings’ in his translation. I interpret this Hidden Journey as both physical and psychological - you may arrive somewhere in person, but there is still an orientation and ‘landing’ happening, even with familiar terrain. I seek to explore and distil this through the visual language of my paintings and the processes behind it. There are also narratives relating to the North which relate to thresholds, the supernatural and the spiritual which I find fascinating.
Moving back to Harris means I am engaged directly with the landscape here, acutely aware of sea, sky and weather shifts across the seasons, activating that ‘string in the body’ and the ‘resonance of the hidden journey’.”
Chan Eil Ann Cho Seòlta ris an Fhoghar
Chan eil ann cho seòlta ris an fhoghar
‘s am fonn air abachadh
gus teud thoirt beò anns a’ cholainn
fathann air an t-slighe dhìomhair
infhios air a’ cheol a cheangleas
bith is bithbhuantachd
Strings
Nothing is as cunning as the autumn
the land tuned to ripeness
to activate a string in the body
a resonance of the hidden journey
an inkling of the music that relates
being and eternity
Donald MacAulay (Translation by the poet)
[i] Rhona Dougall, Feàrna.org/Concepts – Decolonising, understanding and connecting with Gaelic Culture and Heritage in the Highlands & Islands
