History of Findhorn’s coastline explored in new exhibition!
‘Fastenings’ is the newest exhibition happening at Moray Art Centre this November, by Edinburgh based artist David Lemm. His new body of work is influenced by the story of the original village disappearing into the sea. Drawn to ruins and remains, this work focuses on the erosion of the coastline and the structures encountered there, which he has realised through a combination of drawings, prints and wooden forms he has collected from his trip to Findhorn. David’s exhibition is complimented with vibrant paintings by Gray’s School of Art graduate, Toni Harrower.
David Lemm
Alongside materials sourced from Findhorn and Roseisle beaches, the works feature forms derived from sea fastenings. Lemm first encountered these objects in Shetland and has reimagined them for projects in Lerwick and Bergen. Completing a triangulation of sorts, and in response to Findhorn’s relationship with the sea, this series concludes a triptych of projects exploring these artefacts.
Here, these geometric shapes are primarily employed as framing devices to view details from the local terrain, alluding to complex correlations between human activity, place and environment.
David Lemm is a visual artist based in Edinburgh. His practice is informed by subjective encounters with place, process and artefact, which he primarily explores through assemblage, printmaking, drawing and installation. Lemm constructs his work through situational enquiry and in response to observation of the incidental, liminal and relational, often focusing on interactions between designed and naturally occurring form.
The emergence of new meaning through synthesis and abstraction of existing information is an ongoing concern and he often reimagines found materials to present inherent or speculative narratives. He has worked extensively with admiralty charts, and in recent work has reappropriated industrial components including sea fastenings and tram tracks.
His approach frequently begins with walking and he has undertaken various residencies, including projects in Norway, London, Isle of Eigg and the Jon Schueler Scholarship at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye. He has presented several solo exhibitions and recent projects include public artworks in Lerwick, Edinburgh and Royal Brompton Hospital, London.
My paintings follow a ‘system’ and a set of restraints that determine colour, composition and scale. Working from a colour-coded alphabet, the titles for each painting are extremely important as they are the starting point for making; from this point each piece follows a basic set of rules – working from left to right, top to bottom.
I explore the physicality of paint in line with my interest in dementia. Working in a repetitious manner, I create individual patterns and repeated geometric shapes which form a grid-like structure. The grids provide a level of control over the paint which is otherwise unrestricted.
The build-up of layers expresses the passing of time. As the paint gains depth and weight, gravity and a lack of control come into play, causing the paint to fall away, with cells merging into one another. In many ways the paintings relate to uncontrollable events that happen in life, and several pieces imply the notion of the mind – and life – falling apart.
