Doun the Hoose, March 2021
For artist and writer Joyce Davies the concept of 'home' is one that is deeply meaningful. It is a physical place in Shetland where she has lived for over sixteen years. It is also Glasgow where she was born and brought up. More importantly, 'it's an inner place in her mind'. Feeling at home, for her, is a sense of being, no matter where she is. Homes can be a place of safety for many but for others a place of fear.
In this, her first public installation, Joyce explores her sense of home. She is inspired by the beautiful landscape and the culture of Shetland. She is also deeply inspired by churches, basilicas, and cathedrals around Europe, that she never misses the opportunity to visit whenever she can. For Joyce, the Church is a deeply important part of her life.
Having a memory that is made up of vivid images, Joyce thinks a lot in pictures, and she shares these with honesty in her work, alongside her voice recording. Joyce's journey to becoming an artist began at Well-being classes at Mareel in 2019 and since then her work has been exhibited internationally.
Follow Joyce on Instagram here
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Unknown Caller
Claire Davenport, February 2021
The projected animation, made up of over fifty drawings on lined paper, creates a short narrative based around the Hillhead phone box. The work evolved through the recent period of lockdown. With restrictions limiting Claire to her local area, she found herself reimaging it in new ways and exploring the streets with a new energy.
The repetitive process of walking these 'daily exercise' routes aligns itself perfectly with the repetitive nature of the stop frame animation and has resulted in an artwork that is both meditative and mysterious. Unknown Caller explores the tension between what we think we perceive and what may lie beneath.
Follow Claire on Instagram
"I hope it gives both artists and passers by some much needed spontaneous soul food at such a weird time'.
(Claire Davenport)
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The Last Tree In Scotland
Callum Moncrieff, January 2021
'The Last Tree In Scotland' takes its title from a suite of drawings, a recurring theme.
Made from the bleached discards of the seasonal pursuit of gardening, these thinnings take on a new and hopeful form.
As a composite, a seemingly Frankenstein thing, it enters the greenhouse in hope of rejuvenation, not as harbinger or portent of gloom.
Its new optimism is to be found in the affinity we have with all things that once carried life, not in any enigmatic truce with nature.
This installation will, over the coming weeks, be subject to 'fine tuning'. A tweeking by the artist that will hopefully intrigue any responsibly distanced passer by or denizen of the night.
Live in Perimeter throghout January and February.
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Sounding Joy
Jono Sandilands, December 2020
It's all about distance this Christmas but it doesn't mean we can't use our magic to bring a little festive cheer. Stay Covid-safe but hover your hands over the electro-conductive artworks to trigger Sounding Joy.
Jono Sandilands X Shetland Arts collaboration, lighting up Christmas 2020.
@jonosandilands is a graphic adventurer making work at the intersection of design, printmaking and technology, creating a relationship between the tangible and digital, and in the process exploring interaction and play.
With generous support from @artmachinelive
Live in Perimeter until 11pm throughout December.
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A Moment in Time, MAMhouss, November 2020
MAMhouss is a collective of artists, writers and makers who aim to navigate and combine parenting with creative practice. Their work is driven by dialogue with a wider community, particularly a community underrepresented or an otherwise non-traditional art audience.
In September 2020 MAMhouss completed a Shetland Arts residency at The Booth Studio in Scalloway, working collaboratively to explore the strange times we find ourselves in. As part of this they installed a kiosk outside and asked for responses to questions about the Covid-19 lockdown and how it made people feel. These interactions became part of a creative conversation that has resulted in new work exhibited here.
Kristi Tait of MAMhouss will be present on Saturday 7 November from 1-2pm to encourage participation in the form of chalk drawing on the pavement and recording more responses to Covid Times, so come along and get involved in a socially distant and safe way.
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Ways of Seeing
Vivian Ross-Smith, July 2020
In July 2020, Vivian commandeered the Shetland Webcam network to make a performance piece exploring accessibility of the art world, perceptions of place and her identity as an islander. It tackled questions around the presentation of artwork in our current Covid-climate. Vivian aims to challenge our understanding of both the gallery space and the audience for contemporary art.
For PERIMETER, Vivian presented Ways of Seeing, including a montage of footage from her Webcam appearances. She will also periodically dress in wearable paintings and occupy the greenhouse, which acts as a window in as well as a barrier and screen, to contemplate the tensions between absence, presence, and physical and digital forms of connection.
Vivian explains, "There are many challenges to sharing artwork right now, and these strange times are teaching us important lessons in rethinking how we access art too. I am delighted to be the first artist to occupy the PERIMETER space with Shetland Arts. The ethos of the space works perfectly in tandem with my recent work and I hope folk will enjoy stopping by to be both intrigued and amused."
