About my work: Drawing on an expanded scale.
siobhanmclaughlinstudio • April 20, 2020
Moving the drawn line from sketching in situ, up a munro in the Cairngorms, to this expanded format gives a sense of vastness of the landscape.
Untitled (Polythene action drawing I), Acrylic paint on polythene sheeting, 310x200cm
For these drawings I used an alternative tool, a paintbrush on a dowel rod, to give physical distance between my body and the surface, and allow for a less controlled line to be expressed.
In painting, my experience is one that is viewed intimately, often with only a few inches between eyes and painted surface, or mixing pot. Whereas in these larger expressive drawings there is a physical distance, yet the process is still completely connected. The physicality of moving around the space, having to reach and bend to create marks, connects me to my subject matter and my experience.
These large drawings, in similar dimensions to my large painting, act both as works in their own right and as research tools for mapping out forms and determining compositions.
In a similar way to my drawing process, Brice Marden used long handled brushes to give himself a certain distance from the surface to create his paintings in his ‘Cold Mountain’ series of the mid 1980s. Influenced by Chinese calligraphy and Zen nature poems, Marden constructed an energetic and dynamic space from line. Marden’s evocation of nature through the reading of poetry, particularly the Cold Mountain poems by Han Shan of 700 AD, aligns with my research of looking back to Nan Shepherd’s poetic prose as inspiration.
Brice Marden, Cold Mountain 6 (Bridge), oil on linen, 274x365cm, 1989-1991.
Untitled (Polythene drawing III), Acrylic paint on polythene sheeting, 310x200cm.

I'm delighted to present Belongings, a piece by Martin Holman written in response to my show 'Pilgrimages' at Hweg gallery , Penzance 22nd November 2024 - 11th January 2025. I'm really touched by Martin's insights, references and analysis of the work and hope you enjoy reading the text. Read time is roughly 10 - 15 minutes. Thank you to Martin and to Joe at Hweg. For images of the show, see my works page here .

Delighted to have been asked by Lyon and Turnbull to select my Top Picks for the upcoming Art Edit 793 Auction. Aimed at making the art market more accessible, The Art Edit series of auctions enables people to begin or grow their art collection, with estimates starting at £200. Recent lots have included works by Victoria Crowe, Dame Ethel Walker and Dame Laura Knight, and here I'll be highlighting my top 3 picks for the next auction , opening on Wednesday 26th June 2024.

During my residency in Cornwall, awarded by Visual Arts Scotland , Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust and Porthmeor Studios, I met artist Peter Ward . After seeing an interesting painting of his at the Tremenheere Gallery, Penzance, I contacted Ward to ask about the medium of 'earth pigments'. To my delight he offered to show me the best pigment collecting sites along the South West Coastal Path.

Letting go of the imposter syndrome and accepting/celebrating the fact that I'm actually a curator. Nearly 3.5k people visited the Alan Davie exhibition at Dovecot Studios . That's mad to me. Thanks so much to everyone who visited, I hope you enjoyed it! A huge thank you to Dovecot for supporting my idea and giving me the opportunity to curate when I had no previous 'professional' experience. From approaching Dovecot with an exhibition plan in September 2019 to speaking at the exhibition opening in June 2022, I've learned a lot. Thanks also to Edinburgh Art Festival , the William Grant Foundation and the John Ellerman Foundation for the support.

Thank you to Edinburgh Art Festival for inviting me to speak at Art Late 2, streamed live from Jupiter Artland this week! It was a fantastic day of discussion, hearing from a range of artists, curators and creatives about their contributions to this years art festival. Watch the video below to hear my 8 reasons why everyone should visit the Alan Davie: Beginning of a Far-Off World exhibition at Dovecot Studios !

Meeting a lot of artists recently, who have such varied practices, has made me reflect on an essay I wrote back in 2018 on the role of artists in artist-run spaces. Particularly, meeting an artist who is currently studying Horticulture, got me thinking about the idea of 'artist-as-gardener'. I've just included a wee section of the essay here, which used EMBASSY Gallery in Edinburgh as a case-study, looking at the role of the artist in an artist-run space. In this section I was processing ideas of authorship and importance given to the 'Curator' title in contemporary discourse. Curatorial/artistic practice has developed significantly since I wrote this in 2018, but I think that the 'artist-as-gardener' idea is still a nice one.