Dundee Contemporary Arts, until 14 August 2007

Working drawing, Arnish, Isle of Lewis, 70cms x 112cms, 2007.

COMMISSIONED by Talisman Energy (UK) Limited, Sue Jane Taylor’s latest body of work is significant in its documentation of environmental, social and corporate history.

The artist’s working method brings together layers of mark, both in the working drawings and 3-plate Photo Polymer Etching process that suggest the human, organic and industrial components of the Beatrice Wind Farm Demonstrator Project.

Part of the European DOWNVIND (Distant Offshore Wind Farms No Visual Impact in Deepwater) initiative, the Beatrice Project aims to assess the feasibility of a large scale deep water offshore wind farm. It is a pilot project with global implications and one which represents an innovative relationship between art, science, technology and industry.

Located 25km off the Caithness coast, the first 5 megawatt turbine was installed in 2006 and the second installed in July 2007. Five works currently on show at the DCA represent the artist’s most recent documentation of the offshore oil and gas industry and create a visual record of the construction and installation of the turbines as part of a pioneering renewable energy project.

During the last twenty years Sue Jane Taylor has recorded the lives of workers on sites such as Piper Alpha, Piper B Platform and Flotta Terminal, producing “Oilwork – The North Sea Diaries” published by Birlinn in September 2005.

An exhibition and book launch of ‘The North Sea Diaries’ toured extensively in the UK at the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Time and Tide Museum (Great Yarmouth), Norfolk Museum and Galleries and the Pier Arts Centre Orkney.

The current exhibition includes a video, “What colour is the wind?”, recording some of the artist’s working sketches and on-site visits to Arnish on the Isle of Lewis and Burntisland and Methil yards in Fife where components of the massive turbines were constructed.

Video also gives an indication of scale in terms of machinery and workers which would otherwise be difficult for an audience to grasp. The unique offshore location represents a challenging environment for the artist viewing the whole project from conception to completion.

Observation and drawing are the foundation of Taylor’s process, clearly evident in the choice of image for three Photo Polymer Etchings and in two large scale site drawings on display. Even in the use of new technology the human hand is always present.

Photo Polymer Intaglio (or etching) method allows an artist to produce an original print using digital, photographic or hand drawn images as a starting point. The original drawing is transferred onto a clear film using ultraviolet light and then covered in a photosensitive coating which is then “etched” away.

Subsequent layers of etching can then be applied in a series of plates. The quality of mark produced is consistent with traditional hand printed etching. This combined approach maintains the integrity of the artist’s process as Sue Jane Taylor describes:

“I wanted to try and achieve a similar quality of mark making in these new prints as in my original working figure drawings. I also wanted to experiment with this method which is new to my usual printmaking working practice and combine it with traditional etching processes. The results are quite fascinating and have the feel of lithography, layers of translucent colour built up from each plate.”

It is precisely this unique layering of mark that defines the three printed images in the exhibition; “Danish Tattoo Boy”, “Methil Scaffolder” and “Arnish Welder”. “Danish Tattoo Boy” with gold accents of body piercing and the detail of tattoos etched into skin is a work of human individuality in an environment dominated by the necessity and bulk of protective clothing.

The image is a composite figure-drawing with details of the subject’s profile and forearm beautifully rendered in blues, grey and black. There is a delicacy and vulnerability in these details which contrasts with the heavy industrial setting and our expectation about the human element within this environment. Taylor focuses our attention on a human rather than an industrial scale in this particular work.

“Arnish Welder” combines human presence lightly drawn with huge gloved hands and the waterlogged suggestion of the outside environment in layers of etched mark, blue hues of ink and spatters.

In contrast the hot red orange of “Methil Scaffolder” drawn in a strong, dominant outline frames and defines the human figure within his protective suit and hardhat. Each print uses three plates to build up the surface with the immediacy of the artist’s drawn response as a starting point.

Two large scale composite pencil drawings, “Beatrice Field – Arnish Yard, Lewis” and “Beatrice Field Methil / Burntisland”, are especially interesting for the layered treatment of land and sky which seem to reflect the hand etched process. In “Methil/ Burntisland” varying density of pencil combine controlled cross hatching and looser gestural marks in shaded sections of sky. More linear depiction of water and waves vibrate with a constant energy.

Inside construction scenes are amalgamated into the lower section of the drawing in cross-section views which contrast with the expansive qualities of shore and sky. The wide sweep of shoreline in “Arnish Yard, Lewis” also reflects a creation of density, texture and mood in shifting layers of pencil.

The current exhibition provides a snapshot of Taylor’s substantial work in progress. Once completed it would be great to see a larger scale exhibition of documentary work, drawings, and prints, together with non commissioned work inspired by the artist’s experiences offshore including prints and sculpture.

Negotiations are underway in association with Talisman Energy for a major exhibition representative of the artist’s completed Beatrice Field works in the central belt and in Brussels. Sue Jane Taylor’s work will also be represented in a new display of art and artefacts associated with the oil and gas industry at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

For most of us who will only ever see the lights of platforms in the distance off our coast or see reports about renewable energy exploration in the media, the artist’s documentation of the Beatrice Project brings humanity, issues of environment and technology into focus. As part of Highland life the exhibition provides an alternative view of the Highland environment and our place within it.

A recipient of the Glenfiddich Living Scotland Award, Sue Jane Taylor has previously held residencies at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Armidale Gallery and Museum in NSW Australia.

She studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, the Slade School of Fine Art, London and Konsthogskolan, Stockholm. The artist currently lives and works at Cataibh studio by Dornoch and is a member of the artist’s group Visual Arts Sutherland.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Links

• DCA
• Sue Jane Taylor
• VASu
• More images of the Beatrice Field