Solastalgia

Globalisation, digital lifestyles and migration patterns into innercity lives have left many of us disconnected from the direct relationship with the land relatives and ancestors had. Nature has instead become a place of leisure and respite, without human reciprocation for its gifts. Using her own heritage as a starting point, Gracie reconnects her dissociated city life with that of her ancestors, islanders from the subartic archipelaego of Shetland, its own native population colonised and influenced by waves of viking and scottish rule, yet maintaining its own distinct identity. The work questions if we could again learn to view ourselves as having a direct relationship with the environment - not in a naive sense that we can all return to crofting - instead using the perspective of the past to generate new understandings for our future. Many of the works are created using historical photographic processes, natural fibres and mineral processes that reflect geological and industrial changes throughout the epochs. A palette of prussian blues permeate the works, using the sea as a metaphor for uncovered histories, reflection, and stillness beneath the surface. Vernissage: Thursday, November 5th, 6pm - 9pm The opening is accompanied by a live soundscape performance by icelandic composer Haukur Thor Hardarson (Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Oper)