Signs for Kilbeg
Watercolour, graphite, and wax on admiralty paper
24 x 24 cm
2018
This series was created in response to my experience as a Jon Schueler
Artist in Residence at Sabhal Mor Ostaig. Inspired by part by mysterious sign
posts at the boundary of the planned village of Kilbeg, this collection of
cipher like works explore the idea of an imagined signage system for the future
place.
Sabhal Mor Ostaig is the national centre for Gaelic language, and I began
learning during the residency. The idea of learning a landscape through a
specific language and culture was a key idea in the work and these compositions
are derived from the environment I witnessed.
I focused on encountered scenes that felt significant in both local
narrative and my understanding of the place. I was especially interested in the
idea of thresholds found across the site and present these abstracted observations
in the shape of ‘Passing Place’ road signs.
Considering the future design of Kilbeg, and the society that may exist,
I imagined the society that may exist, I imagined the graphic compositions that
emerged as symbols of another time, glyphs from a future lexicon, where the
meaning is unclear and open to interpretation.
________________________
David Lemm is a visual artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His research
led approach spans a range of processes, with synthesis and abstraction consistent
interests. The consideration of specific environments is a particular focus,
with outcomes often exploring alternative cartography and symbolic form to
translate or create potential narrative.
He has undertaken residency programs in Norway, London, Glasgow, Isle of
Eigg, and in 2017 was awarded the Jon Schueler Scholarship Visual Artist in Residence
at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Skye. He works across a range of commissioned projects
and has presented solo exhibitions at Edinburgh Printmakers and House of Illustration,
London. Current projects include sculptural public art commissions in Lerwick
and Edinburgh, and a residency commission at Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea
to develop works for the new Imaging Centre there.
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