Scottish Gallery:
Raising Ghosts - Rachel Larkins
From the Forest to the Forge - Lachlan Goudie
The Scottish Gallery has had a great season of exhibitions recently. Last month we had the The Behrens Family, that is: Reinhard Behrens, Margaret Smyth (Behrens), David Behrens and Kirstie Behrens. What an amazingly talented family and a wonderful exhibition. Before that we had Victoria Crowe.
This month we have Lachlan Goudie and Rachel Larkins.
Right: Pieces by Larkins.
Rachel Larkins is new to me but I was immediately taken by the wide variety of material and forms she uses to make her art. As well as prints and drawings, she makes beautiful and unique pieces of jewellery that make her vision three-dimensional and wearable. And talking of three-dimensional, she makes diorama's and ceramics as well.
On the right: A lovely example of a piece of jewellery called The Siren Brooch.
Lachlan Goudie we know from previous posts. An artist I like a lot. In his new exhibition at the Gallery, he explores the engineering of shipbuilding and the twisty forms of the forest
Above:i Shipbuilding by Lachlan Goudie, ink and wash on paper, 100x150cm
He sees some similarity between the natural world of the forest and that of the engineering yard or ship workshop. Above we see the complicated scaffolding, pipes and cables going every which way and we can perhaps see some likeness in the branches and growth deep in an old forest. The trees and plants also twist and grow themselves into long and winding shapes of nature. There are fewer straight lines in nature though.
Another thing I like about Goudie is his use of gouache paint, a form of opaque watercolour. It is less commonly seen in an art gallery today. Goudie's gouache paintings seem similar in style to his oil painting as well.
Right: Type 26 by Lachlan Goudie, gouache on paper, 68x51cm.
Below: The Forests of Abbey Saint Bathans by Lachlan Goudie, ink and watercolour on paper, 99x134cm
Overall the gallery has two excellent shows of art here, worth a visit for either. In addition, it has a small exhibition downstairs of Modern Masters XIX, highlighting work by Joan Eardley and also Elizabeth Blackadder, S.J. Peploe and others.