O for Light

About

O for light…. is a new body of painterly text pieces based on the changing sky. Created during spring and summer 2020 by Edinburgh text artist Catherine Sargeant. The title of the exhibition comes from the partially ‘erased’ title of a book that Catherine altered and used for the inspiration of these new works.

A spring series of 30 small paintings depict the April sky, each one highlighting a single word.

A summer selection of pages from the 100 day book have been developed into larger paintings using subtle colour changes and mark-making whilst gently weaving the text through.

‘During lockdown I didn’t have access to my studio and was isolating in an attic flat in Tillicoultry. With the dramatic unknown of the situation I found solace in creating sketches of the ever moving and changing sky. Without access to my studio materials I used things at hand, emulsion paint, newspapers and envelopes, and made my own rice glue. I then became immersed in two art challenges. Firstly for the month of April I painted the sky daily in a sketchbook writing on the page a few simple comments about my day. After completing this I committed to the 100 day project Scotland where I used a single textbook, altering a page a day by covering it in collage. Again I depicted the sky but I also left aspects of the page text uncovered in the form of a blackout (erasure) poem. These blackout poems reflected the day’s news, the weather, my mood or something that appealed to me that day. All 100 pages can be seen on my Instagram feed.’

Catherine Sargeant graduated as a mature student from Edinburgh College of Art during its Centenary year in 2007 she became the first recipient of WASPS new graduate award giving her a studio space in Patriothall where she continues to work. Along with her art practice Catherine is a tutor at Leith School of Art.

MEET THE ARTIST

31 Oct. Go to https://www.uprightgallery.com/now.html for details and booking.