Siobhan McLaughlin
- Work
- Biography
My practice is centred on my experience of landscape: the perspective and feelings specific to climbing Scottish munros. Walking enables an accumulative research process of experiencing and contemplation which is channeled into my work. Through this sensory experience, translated into the physicality of large-scale painting, I explore an understanding of our fragile existence in the world.
My recent series is based on walks up and around Lochnagar in the Cairngorms, written about in Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, 1977. Shepherd focuses on the accumulative experience of walking, rather than simply reaching the peak. This way of exploring our physical and mental capacities is something that I’ve been contemplating through my research.
Shepherd’s insights into the shifting palette of the landscape feeds into my work as whilst walking, I gather a particular spectrum of colours, affected by light, weather and time.
The materials sewn to create the base for my paintings are largely non-traditional, there is a tension created by the competing tautness and looseness of adjoining fabrics, and by the paint as it unexpectedly interacts with each surface. The unfolding of this complex and precarious, whilst considered, nature of production, mirrors the unpredictable and often arduous experience of munro walking. The exposed frayed edges, loose threads and prominent brush marks, lay bare the construction of the painting, compelling the viewer to contemplate the process of labour and creation. The layers of paint creating underlying rhythms and currents, form new skins and mirror the tangibility and rawness of the landscape.
My recent series is based on walks up and around Lochnagar in the Cairngorms, written about in Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain, 1977. Shepherd focuses on the accumulative experience of walking, rather than simply reaching the peak. This way of exploring our physical and mental capacities is something that I’ve been contemplating through my research.
Shepherd’s insights into the shifting palette of the landscape feeds into my work as whilst walking, I gather a particular spectrum of colours, affected by light, weather and time.
The materials sewn to create the base for my paintings are largely non-traditional, there is a tension created by the competing tautness and looseness of adjoining fabrics, and by the paint as it unexpectedly interacts with each surface. The unfolding of this complex and precarious, whilst considered, nature of production, mirrors the unpredictable and often arduous experience of munro walking. The exposed frayed edges, loose threads and prominent brush marks, lay bare the construction of the painting, compelling the viewer to contemplate the process of labour and creation. The layers of paint creating underlying rhythms and currents, form new skins and mirror the tangibility and rawness of the landscape.
Education:
2014-2019
Edinburgh Edinburgh University & College of Art. MA (Hons) Fine Art with History of Art and Painting, First Class.
2013-14
Tramway Visual Art Studio. Portfolio Preparation Course.
2012-13
Glasgow School of Art. Portfolio Preparation Course.
Selected Exhibitions:
2023
Scottish Landscapes: A New Generation, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh.
Elemental, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
Coast to Coast, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate.
TEXTUS, Torriano Meeting House, London.
VAS West Spring Members Showcase, The Briggait, Glasgow.
Society of Scottish Artists 130 Years, RSA, Edinburgh.
2022
A Wee Gathering, Anchor Studios and Jupiter Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall.
HERE: Between you and the World, POP Griffiths Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
50 X 50, The Auction Collective, London.
Gilchrist-Fisher Award 2022, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.
On Paper, PAPER Gallery, Manchester.
VAS Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh.
2021
No Arrow of Time, Box Hub, Glasgow.
SSA Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh.
Abstract Zeitgeist, Rafiki Gallery, Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh.
Modern Show, Lemond Gallery, Glasgow.
2020
Landscape in Lockdown, Lemond Gallery. Exercise Three, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh.
2019
July Exhibition. Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh.
Degree Show 2019. Edinburgh College of Art.
All, Entire, Whole. New Glasgow Society, Glasgow.
2018
Sightseers. G39 Gallery, Cardiff, Wales. Invited by Welsh artist Bob Gelsthorpe.
THE SALON. EMBASSY Gallery, Edinburgh. Curator.
Awards:
2023
Stephen Palmer Bursary Award, Engage Scotland.
Art Trade Forum Bursary, Paul Mellon Centre London.
Henderson Bursary Award, Pittenweem.
2022
VAS From One to Another: Cornwall x Scotland Exchange Residency.
RSA Residencies for Scotland- Cromarty Arts Trust.
2021
Hospitalfield Graduate Residency Programme, Arbroath.
2020
Selected member of Emerging Curators Group, British Art Network, Tate, London.
2019
SSA Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Award, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
2014-2019
Edinburgh Edinburgh University & College of Art. MA (Hons) Fine Art with History of Art and Painting, First Class.
2013-14
Tramway Visual Art Studio. Portfolio Preparation Course.
2012-13
Glasgow School of Art. Portfolio Preparation Course.
Selected Exhibitions:
2023
Scottish Landscapes: A New Generation, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh.
Elemental, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
Coast to Coast, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate.
TEXTUS, Torriano Meeting House, London.
VAS West Spring Members Showcase, The Briggait, Glasgow.
Society of Scottish Artists 130 Years, RSA, Edinburgh.
2022
A Wee Gathering, Anchor Studios and Jupiter Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall.
HERE: Between you and the World, POP Griffiths Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
50 X 50, The Auction Collective, London.
Gilchrist-Fisher Award 2022, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.
On Paper, PAPER Gallery, Manchester.
VAS Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh.
2021
No Arrow of Time, Box Hub, Glasgow.
SSA Annual Exhibition, RSA, Edinburgh.
Abstract Zeitgeist, Rafiki Gallery, Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh.
Modern Show, Lemond Gallery, Glasgow.
2020
Landscape in Lockdown, Lemond Gallery. Exercise Three, Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh.
2019
July Exhibition. Arusha Gallery, Edinburgh.
Degree Show 2019. Edinburgh College of Art.
All, Entire, Whole. New Glasgow Society, Glasgow.
2018
Sightseers. G39 Gallery, Cardiff, Wales. Invited by Welsh artist Bob Gelsthorpe.
THE SALON. EMBASSY Gallery, Edinburgh. Curator.
Awards:
2023
Stephen Palmer Bursary Award, Engage Scotland.
Art Trade Forum Bursary, Paul Mellon Centre London.
Henderson Bursary Award, Pittenweem.
2022
VAS From One to Another: Cornwall x Scotland Exchange Residency.
RSA Residencies for Scotland- Cromarty Arts Trust.
2021
Hospitalfield Graduate Residency Programme, Arbroath.
2020
Selected member of Emerging Curators Group, British Art Network, Tate, London.
2019
SSA Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Award, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Untitled (Lochnagar III), oil pastel, oil paint and encaustic medium on mixed materials, 310x200cm
- Oil
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Lochnagar, oil on mixed materials, 170x200cm
- Oil
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- NY Aerial, oil and household paint on mixed materials, 150x182cm
- Oil
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Untitled (Loch Muik), Oil bar and oil pastel on mixed materials, 110x200cm
- Drawing
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Untitled (Hanging series III), Oil paint and oil pastel on mixed materials, 45x65 cm
- Oil
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Untitled (Hanging series I and IV), Oil paint and oil pastel on mixed materials, 15x110 cm
- Oil
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Untitled (Lochnagar print II), monoprint on newsprint, 30x21cm
- Monotype
- Siobhan McLaughlin
- Lochnagar sketch, pencil on paper, 30x21cm
- Drawing
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