Double Act: 1 Feb – 28 March 2008

Artists' Statement: Sandi Kiehlmann/ Cameron Morgan

‘SOUVENIR'

“The seashore is an edge, perhaps the only true edge in the world whose borders are otherwise mostly political fictions, and it defies the usual ideas of borders by being unfixed, fluctuant, and infinitely permeable. The seashore is the place that is noplace, sometimes solid land or rather sand, and sometimes the shallow fringe of that huge body of water governed by the remote body of the moon.''

Rebecca Solnit, Seashell to Ear

My collaboration with Cameron was founded on a mutual enjoyment of the natural environment and the desire to create artwork out with the traditional studio environment, using a range of media. We wanted to make artwork, and site it where people would discover it by chance interaction.

Cameron is a keen hillwalker and gardener. He is a prolific, talented artist who relishes the challenges of exploring new mediums. He has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally and has worked on a variety of commissions.

I combine making my own work with public art commissions, community based art workshops and environmental art projects. Four years ago I moved from Glasgow to Dunoon in Argyll, and have been exploring new ideas, and creating artwork inspired by my new rural environment.

Our journey began at Glasgow Central station with a 50 minute train journey through Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, tracking the river Clyde down to Gourock; connecting to a 20 minute ferry crossing with panoramic views of the “Arrochar Alps”, the Gare Loch, Loch Long, and the Holy Loch, arriving at Dunoon, on the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll.

Dunoon was once a traditional and thriving Victorian seaside resort. We began, as most tourists would, with a walk along the beach, and a visit to a seaside café. We followed this by photographing local monuments and tourist attractions, distant landscapes, and the shore. Then we went beach combing, delighting in chance findings of flotsam and jetsam: plastic action man heads, broken toy guns, lost soles, keys, locks, bits of driftwood, shells, and pebble smooth pottery fragments and coloured glass. We then took our finds into the studio and began working on a series of plaster cast collages, fossilizing the remains of other people's lives, transforming these random lost or unwanted items, giving them new life, and alternative meaning.

Our next visit to Cowal led us to Kilmun, and a very small beach at Gibbs Point, on the Holy Loch which is known locally for the vast number of vibrant blue mussel shells and broken pottery washed up at low tide. We created collages on the beach, both working individually initially, then collaboratively to finalise and photograph each installation. This was a hugely enjoyable process - working on the beach, making a temporary mark on the environment, creating artwork that would vanish at the next high tide. We returned to this beach several times, working within the landscape of the loch and the hills, to the sound of the wind, waves, birds, and occasional passing boat.

We worked on a series of land drawings at the West Bay beach in Dunoon, drawing into the sand with sticks and pebbles to create various images of marine life, including a 25 feet long sea serpent, serendipitously enjoyed by children playing on the beach, people out for a stroll, and dog walkers.

When the weather turned wintery wet and the days became cold and short, we worked in the studio making wire drawings and sculptures of curlews, oyster catchers, crabs and other creatures; returning to the beach to install and photograph them. We also worked individually on large ink, watercolour and mixed media drawings.

For the gallery based exhibition we wanted to develop the work. We considered what tourists might take home with them as a memento of their visit. Traditional souvenirs such as tea towels, fridge magnets, post cards and mugs - machine produced goods with a duality of purpose - practical function and stimulating memory. In the plate series, SOUVENIR, and the textile pieces, SAILCLOTH and BLANKET we have created our own limited edition Double Act souvenirs from Argyll.

Sandi Kiehlmann, 2008