Bank Street Gallery
If childhood has any influence on our performance as adults, then Vicky Blackburn’s style must be unique. One of seven children, she grew up on the North West coast of Scotland on the family farm, with no television – and no electricity! Indeed the road to Roshven Farm was only built the year before Vicky was born! Her world was outside, playing, working and dreaming. If the weather forced them indoors, Blackburn spent her time searching in her grandmother’s kist. Not an unusual pastime for many a bored child but, the treasures given up by this chest again set Vicky apart. It contained the sketch books of her great, great grandmother, Jemima Blackburn, a renowned Scottish illustrator. Although these sketches were always factual, diary-like representations of Jemima’s world, for Vicky they were a window into a fantasy land, quite remote from her.
This oscillation between our real and unreal worlds is evident in Blackburn’s work today. Graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art 1988, Vicky, by her own admission, retained her technique but somewhat lost her zeal as she devoted her life to a fresh passion – that of her husband and sons. Now, as her family matures, her first love has once again had opportunity to flourish. Technical expertise has once again married soul. The result is an atmospheric exhibition of abstract sea and landscapes. Each piece provides an aura of Scotland – tangible, recognisable and yet not representational. The work is robust, grounded, in many ways earthy and yet retains a wistfulness that reminds us of the very private nature of introspection.
The Vicky Blackburn exhibition runs until Friday 9th March, 2012.