Bank Street Gallery

fiona turnbull

Do humility and hidden talent go hand in hand?  In Fiona Turnbull's case, a year out of Gray's School of Art, the answer is yes.  There is an elfin quality about this young artist.  Petite and be-fringed, one has the impression of her hiding behind her own apparel - turn to her work and that feeling is precisely reflectedin her images!

Her one man show begins at Bank Street Gallery in Kirriemuir on Saturday 4th July, 2009.  The exhibition comprises charcoals, oils and pastels.  At first sight her work might best be described as abstract, but look again.  Have you seen something different?  Felt something new?  Like watching the artist herself, another layer appears and the spectator's focus finds itself realigned.  Not for nothing does Turnbull quote from Roald Dahl's "The B.F.G." :-

"That is why they always put two blank pages at the back of an atlas.  They are for new  countries.  You are meant to fill them in yourself."

Turnbull's pieces explore "in betweens" - the gap between anything:  sleep and wakefullness, the wind and the sea, space and time, being and not being.  Using and building up layers of charcoals and pastels, colourwashes and glazes, her representations acquired a spontaneity which is born of her adaptive approach to the development of the piece - always exploring that indefinable moment in time or space that exists between points of understanding.  And the viewer finds himself "filling in" the images!

Graduating in June 2008 with a BA Hons in Fine Art Painting, Fiona has exhibited at Perth Theatre, Montrose Museum, Royal Scottish Academy and Grays School of Art.  Last year she has worked as a Committee Assistant at Aberdeen Artists Society.  She currently lives and works in Perth - driving herself towards the acquisition of her very own studio!  Her exhibition runs until 14th August, 2009.  Bank Street Gallery is open Wednesdays to Saturdays 10am - 4pm and Sundays 1pm - 4pm