The making of my new exhibition and virtual tour
“Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth—penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images, beyond that bounding rim of the Buddhist Wheel of Becoming. Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told.”
WHO-WHERE-WHAT-WHY
I am currently exhibiting at the Fire Station Creative (FSC), a contemporary arts venue in Dunfermline, Fife, as part of the group show MYTHICAL POLITICAL. It is a real honour to be showing work next to global and Scottish talent including David Mach RA, Liane Lang, Jim Lambie, Adrian Wiszniewski RSA, Alison Harper and Sandy Moffat OBE RSA.
The exhibition showcases the work of SPLINT a female artist collective made up of artists Wendy Freestone, Toni Gallagher, Jo Martin, Harriet Selka, Victoria Snazell and myself. It is the first time we have exhibited together outside of London after meeting at The Essential School of Painting in Wood Green. The collective was formed to provide a supportive, constructive and challenging space for women to discuss, create and exhibit together.
Left to right: Alison Harper, Wendy Freestone, Harriet Selka (photo: Harriet Selka)
MYTHICAL POLITICAL is a multidimensional, multifaceted journey into the past, present and future. A layered, open-ended narrative– dissecting the political, the stories we are told, the stories we choose to believe. The fictional, the abstract, the ‘truth’.
Home Improvement Series, Jo Martin (photo: Harriet Selka)
HISTORY-ARCHIVE-MOIRA SHEARER
I am exhibiting two paintings inspired by the venue’s rich history and archive. The fire station was built in 1934 by renowned architect James Shearer, the uncle of internationally renowned Scottish ballet dancer and Hollywood star, Moira Shearer. Shearer was born in Dunfermline, Fife in 1926. She attended the Sadler's Wells Ballet School in 1940 and made her professional debut with International Ballet. She joined Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1942. Today her legacy as a key figure in dance is prominent and she is the subject of many portraits including those by Cecil Beaton, Robin Craig Guthrie, and Avigdor Arikha who painted her alongside her husband Ludovic Kennedy.
Focusing on her performance in Powell and Pressburger’s British drama The Red Shoes (1948), my interests lay beyond the picture, the ‘star’ that she became. I absorbed myself within the darker elements of the tale, to some degree concealed by its superficial success— the story of Victoria Page (Vicky), a young talented woman seemingly possessed by her desire to dance - symbolised by the red shoes - and later leading to her fatal death. It is not clear whether her leap from the balcony (onto an approaching train) was on purpose or driven by the shoes, but nonetheless, the show must go on and it does– somewhat ironically, whilst Vicky bleeds to death and her faithful love Julian removes the evil shoes.
It was only after much persuasion Shearer agreed to take on the role of Vicky. In it she danced fragments of classical ballet devised by choreographer Robert Helpmann. Her dancing was largely responsible for the enormous success of the film and it propelled her to stardom, and subsequently created a new audience for ballet. However, evidently uninterested, she refused the numerous offers made to her after and returned to ballet.
Left to right: Jo Martin, Adrian Wiszniewski RSA, Harriet Selka and Emma O’Rourke (photo: Harriet Selka)
MY WORK-PAINTING-INFLUENCES
The words ‘fragile’ and ‘light’ are often thrown around in reference to Shearer’s performances, but off stage she appeared anything but those things. A continuous student, relentlessly dedicated and true to herself, she remained a dancer throughout her life. A murky snapshot of her performance in The Red Shoes can be seen in my painting ‘Feet firm on the ground’ 2022 (pictured below). I tried to capture the lightness and ambiguity of the famous dance sequence tangled and merged amongst a tale of questionable values and relevance– dying for your art, success and women, the abstract hallucinations and visual manifestations of Vicky's mental state.
Feet firm on the ground, 2022, Emma O’Rourke (photo: Harriet Selka)
Alongside, I created ‘Moira’ 2022 (pictured below), an impression of the star behind the screen, posed, poised– a vessel of everything she must project, her inner passions and many a child's hero. I really connected with this portrait and enjoyed working from a limited colour palette.
Moira, 2022, Emma O’Rourke (photo: Harriet Selka)
I felt inspired by Shearer’s strength and commitment to her craft - the irony of the fairytale narrative that surrounded arguably her best known performance - and her decision to write her own history thereafter. Both of the paintings I produced are a mixture of watercolour, gouache and acrylic on canvas. The exhibition displays a wide variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, collage and installation. It was conceived by David Mach RA who is from Fife and teaches at The Essential School of Painting.
Left to right: Harriet Selka, David Mach RA, Liane Lang, Toni Gallagher (photo: Harriet Selka)
“I’m looking forward to sharing the space with such a broad range of artists in age, work and inspirations. It’s especially exciting since this is all happening on my home territory. My own work will take inspiration from the old Fire Station itself.”
Left to right: Remember To Switch the Gas Off, David Mach RA, Psychedelic Soul Stick, Jim Lambie (photo: Harriet Selka)
Left to right: MacDiarmid Diptych, Alexander Moffat OBE RSA, Crumbs It’s Blown Up! David Mach RA (photo: Harriet Selka)
Left to right: David Mach RA, Jim Lambie, Victoria Snazell, Harriet Selka, Toni Gallagher (photo: Harriet Selka)
Resin sculptures and Kevin, Wendy Freestone (photo: Harriet Selka)
Home Improvement Series, Jo Martin (photo: Harriet Selka)
Left to right: David Mach RA, Liane Lang, Toni Gallagher, Liane Lang (photo: Harriet Selka)
Don’t Fence Me In, Victoria Snazell (photo: Harriet Selka)
Left to right: Toni Gallagher, Emma O’Rourke (photo: Harriet Selka)
VISITING INFO-WORK FOR SALE-THANKS
Fire Station Creative Opening Hours:
Wednesday/Thursday: 10am - 5pm
Friday/Saturday: 10am - Midnight
Sunday: 11am - 4pm
Monday/Tuesday: Closed
All work is for sale, please contact Ian Moir - ian@firestationcreative.co.uk - for more information.
The show opened to the public on Wednesday 2 March 2022 and is on until 1 May 2022.
Fire Station Creative is an independent charity which does not receive regular or ongoing funding from the local authority or Creative Scotland.
Thank you to David Mach RA, Alison Harper and Ian Moir for their time, generosity and making this exhibition happen, and Harriet Selka for kindly providing the photographs used in this post.
You can view the exhibition online here.
If you would like to receive updates from me and my upcoming exhibitions click here to join my mailing list.
PRESS
Jan Patience: Finest new artists revealed at Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries 2022
David White: Dealing with Explosives at Fire Station Creative
