THE TRAVELLING GALLERY | THE ARK CAMPS MURALS

The artworks imagine and illustrate new Scottish rural (feral) communities who are engaged in the construction of giant Ark structures from the debris of old boats and wooden structures which no one imagined would ever be used again. These Ark structures are not intended to be religious although the Ark story is referenced in almost every culture on the planet. These structures are to be seen as cypher for positive rebuilding and it might be imagined that the bus itself in some ways is an cultural ark which travels the byways of Scotland.

The artwork for this project seeks to examine contemporary Scottish culture and its fractured relationship with the past through an exploration of identity which pulls together diverse strands and influences such as outsider artist Angus McPhee in the grass woven costumes worn by the workers in the encampments as well as fragments of highland fishing boats and architectural oddities.

This work provides a bridge between our ancient past and an unknown but optimistic future for Scotland. These tiny fragments are all we have left of our ancient Scottish nation, of a past we can barely imagine when we were culturally whole and are seen in the context of a narrative of rebuilding. The artworks show eccentric ad-hocist constructions being built, great Ark structures. Arks constructed from the debris of old boat hulls and deconstructed allotment sheds which are drawn from images collected all over Scotland; from the outer Hebrides and Orkney to the central belt. The background textures and colours are an abstracted study of the orange Lykens found by the coast in the Hebrides and explore both geology and mapping. It is a delightful notion that these fragments from which the artworks are created will circle the country and at some points shall pass the sites where they actually lie awaiting recycling.