Points of Attachment, 2023
Temporary commission at The Verge - a space for outdoor sculpture situated underneath a railway bridge, near to the river Clyde and the former docks area of Glasgow .The artist Mary Redmond set up the project and has brought it into use through gentle landscaping and planting. While visiting the site, I found myself remembering my grandfather Gordon. He was in the merchant navy and often called at Glasgow - traveling the world as a young man. I remember his blue-green tattoos up his forearms, dissolving over the years into wavy lines of colour. He was one of the kindest men I ever knew, and though we weren't related by blood, he was my maternal grandmother's second husband; he was always my grandad to me.
Four large nets of organic cotton cordage dyed with indigo, madder, weld, and coreopsis. The measurements of the gauge of the nets correspond to each member of my immediate family and myself: mother, father, son, and daughter.
A text by Sara Barker in response to the work is available to read here, along with more images and information about the project. Funded by Creative Scotland.
Images show:
Points of Attachment, 2022. Cotton cord dyed with weld, coreopsis, madder, and indigo. Dimensions variable, shown here approximately 7 x 5 m. Some images show the piece after it has been up for three months, the dye fading in the sunlight, the site in autumn once the plants have lost their leaves.