Maritime Museum, Aberdeen, until 15 October 2005

Piper Alpha Memorial, 1991. © Sue Jane Taylor

FOR THE PAST twenty years, the artist Sue Jane Taylor has recorded the life, on shore and off shore, of the men who were involved in oil production and the fabrication of structures for the Scottish oil industry. The majority of the works currently on display at the Maritime Museum in Aberdeen were made between 1984-89, but these represent only a small selection of the 400 or so works completed by Taylor relating to this subject.

One of the most prominent images in this show is the etching ‘The Oil Man and the Stag’ (1989), which represents the oil industry in allegorical as well as literal terms. The image of sardonic worker in blue hard hat (on which are inscribed the words ‘Oil Man’) and spotted kerchief is juxtaposed with the head and antlers of the stag.

To one side is a dark and windblown tree, which recalls Norman MacCaig’s description: “The ideal shape of a circle/means nothing to you: you’re all/ armpits and elbows…When the salt gales drag through you/ you whip them with flowers…”

The work relates to a number of others completed at this time, including ‘Crann Dubh’ (Black Tree) which shows two men in proximity to another lone, dark-outlined skeletal tree. The motif of the stag (well known from the kitsch of Landseer to the politicised, Socialist polemic of McGrath) might symbolise Scotland but, as with the tree, it stands for the much more general and fragile concept of nature, pitted against humanity’s need for work, wealth, fuel and profit; here old and new, industrial and organic, clash in a seemingly intractable opposition.

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Although at first glance the grouping of the figures seems casual and random, their poses and the orientation of the sculpture is highly significant.

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As well as invoking such powerful symbolism and all its attendant allusions, Taylor pictures her worker as identifiable, with a face. This is her habitual approach and suggests empathy, understanding and her compassionate need to represent the ‘human face’ of technological progress.

Another etching, ‘Rigger III Piper Field Revisited’, completed this year, is a deceptively simple yet arresting image. It shows the head and upper torso of a rigger clad in a hooded protective suit.

Although identifiable, the noble face with its straight nose and goatee beard recalls the Romantic imagery of the warrior. As if to emphasise the nobility of this warrior pose, the harness attachments on the rigger’s survival suit suggest ornamental buckles or even the brooches on the plaids of medieval Scottish Highland chiefs. Although the colour scheme here is muted the way in which it has been employed shows underlines the assured compositional sense of the piece.

Taylor’s best know public work is the Piper Alpha Memorial, 1991 (which is sited in Aberdeen’s Hazelhead Park). The large bronze sculpture pays tribute to the 187 workers who lost their lives on the Piper Alpha platform in 1988; studies for the piece are on display here. Although at first glance the grouping of the figures seems casual and random, their poses and the orientation of the sculpture is highly significant.

The three figures – defined as ‘central’, ‘roustabout’ and ‘survival suit’ – face North, West and East respectively. Each carries subtle but strong imagery which raises the work beyond mere monumental sculpture. For example, the east facing figure, who represents youth and movement, wears on his left sleeve a sea-eagle motif, native to the North Sea region and a deliberate, some might say provocative, alternative to the North American eagle.

Such complexity therefore underpins Taylor’s approach and typifies her bold and uncompromising stance, born of understanding, empathy, craft and a highly defined artistry.

Sue Jane Taylor will be signing copies of her book ‘Oilwork: North Sea Diaries’ at Dornoch Bookshop on Saturday 8 October 10.30am – 1.00pm

© Giles Sutherland, 2005