Artists with Caithness connections are featured in exhibition in Inverness

THE work of three artists – all with Caithness connections – is being shown at an exhibition in Inverness until the end of August.

Shared Perspectives features the work of Jana Emburey, former co-ordinator at the St Fergus Gallery in Wick, Ian Giles from Thrumster and Lucy Woodley, who works with High Life Highland and has been bringing exhibitions to the county for years. She previously has shown her art in Thurso.

Jana, who now lives and works in Grantown-on-Spey, said: "In my work often appear tiny hand drawn circles, representing and distilling the world around us to the minute, fundamental cells and particles everything is made of but it also explores the ideas of interconnectivity, oneness and universal dynamics. Each of the tiny cells is complete on its own but is also an integral part of a greater organism, similar to our own view and relationship with our body, the cosmos, time and space."

The graduate from Bratislava in Slovakia, who lived in Caithness for five years, added: "The lengthy process of making these works is as absorbing as it is slow, meticulous and precise. It is inviting us to slow down, concentrate on our intention but, at the same time, expand our awareness.

"This body of work, the Oblivion series, has been mostly kept black and white for a few years. Colours have been gradually and tentatively finding their way in, mostly as diluted watercolour or acrylic paint, seeping into the fibres of the Japanese Kozo paper I like to use."

Ian Giles' pictures in the exhibition were inspired by excursions along the east coast of Caithness, between Sarclet and Berriedale which he describes as "a visually stunning place."

"It was not my intention to paint or ‘capture’ this scenery. The works emerged some time later and consider the fabric, monumentality and the fragility of the coast where the time line of faults, folds and erosion creates the thumb print of our place, our presence and our identity."

Ian is a self-taught artist who has lived in Caithness for over 40 years. He has exhibited work throughout the Highlands as well as having commissions and works in private collections across Scotland.

Lucy Woodley grew up in Helmsdale and studied jewellery in Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen where she graduated in 1992. She ran a successful jewellery business for 20 years based in Tain and now concentrates on sculptural works for galleries and private commissions.

"Our world is in flux. We are being forced into reconfiguring our borders and along with them, our identities. Ultima Thule is my way of exploring the themes around migration: the hope and the trepidation that comes with any journey that traverses known and unknown territories."

She added: "I have known Jana for a long time and loved her work as soon as I saw it, Ian’s too although it was a while before I met him. I feel we all have a connection through our work, the obvious connections are the minimal colours we use and the storytelling, these common threads have made a visually strong exhibition."

The display in the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery can be seen until August 27.

Jana also has a solo exhibition at the & Gallery in Edinburgh which runs from September 3 until September 28.

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