Mhairi Killin at Tobermory
Precious Cargo, Mhairi Killin, found wood, etched silver, silver wire woven brass shim
Scottish artist Mhairi Killin is showing a selection of her latest work at the Tobermory Arts Centre on Mull until 5 September
Absent Voices showcases five large-scale sculptural installations by Killin. They’re all very different, but each incorporate a mix of found objects, textile material, and silver and all contain a sense of provenance. ‘The pieces all have a strong narrative theme as they have grown out of the social, spiritual and cultural landscape which I live in [the sacred Scottish Island of Iona]’ explains Killin. The show’s centrepiece is Waulke/Wake, made up of 35 silver bobbins mounted on the wall and a solid fabric covering a table. A single thread is wrapped around each bobbin and together they join up to form the shroud-like fabric draped over a glass top table. The piece is all about memory and local history as the glass is etched with the words of an old song sung by groups of women as they worked the fabric of the tweed in the pre-industrial era. ‘It’s a comment on the cultural decline that accompanies the decline of craft skills and the loss of the element of sociability that comes with industrialisation,’ says Killin.
The exhibition tours to the Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland from 9 January – 7 February, then the Inverness Museum, (27 March – 24 April) and Collins Gallery, Glasgow (28 May – 26 June)
www.antobar.co.uk
www.mhairikillin.com
