Waterfront Gallery, Stromness, Orkney, until 28 September 2009

I HAVE BEEN really looking forward to this exhibition for a while now, having had a sneaky preview of some of the work a few weeks ago. It seems like too long a time since we have had the opportunity to see an exhibition of Sheena’s paintings, and so I would urge you to visit the Waterfront Gallery before this exhibition finishes.

Ladder Race I (red) by Sheena Graham-George

There are clearly a large number of people who feel the same way as I do about Sheena’s work, as plenty of pieces had red dots alongside them. Not to worry though, this is a significant exhibition with over 50 works so there are some left waiting to be snapped up.

As you enter the gallery you are faced with what look simply like bright and cheery paintings. Lots of colour, particularly blues in the oil paintings, and tiny watercolours that look like little jewels with no less strength of colour than the larger oils.

You could be forgiven for thinking, on first glance, that these are figurative, almost fantastical paintings with little depth, and, if that is all you want from the paintings, then that’s fine and dandy. But look closer, think about the symbolism Sheena is using, and the works reward your time and effort.

I think that these paintings do exactly what they should. They draw you in because of their detail and beauty, and then they make you think and challenge your own shallowness! I don’t know about how anyone else would read them, and I don’t need to know what was going through Sheena’s mind when she was painting them, but I think they work because they allow you to reflect back to yourself your own concerns and worries (if you have any!). To me they have a dark quality which I relish.

The recurring themes of teetering ladders with tottering people at the top, rocking chairs at the top of buildings or ladders just waiting to rock too far and fall, flying people and birds, and houses cast adrift because they are sitting on boats all tell me that whatever strength you have in either a relationship or in a sense of being rooted somewhere, or even in your own ability to make the leap, well, it just won’t last, even if you are completely oblivious to the imminent dangers.

I told you it was dark – or is that just me?! They could also, I guess, be viewed as people succeeding over adversity, making leaps of faith or being prepared to take crazy risks to get to where they need to, but I don’t see them like that. The paintings ‘Up on the Roof’, ‘House lll’, ‘Ladder Race l (red)’ and ‘House l’ are really good examples of this group of works.

I am lucky enough to own a couple of Sheena’s paintings and depending on my mood when I walk past them I either see quirky surreal pictures, or really quite menacing images. I absolutely love that! I really enjoy the different levels of her paintings, the different readings you can make and the sheer depth of her work.

As the daughter of a birder, I also completely adore the fact that Sheena puts into images just what it is like to be related to one! Her depictions of massively oversized telescopes describe to me the obsessional qualities of this ‘hobby’, the ability of birders to block everything else out when focussed in on a rare bird.

Attempting to catch birds in nets is a metaphor for the desperate lister, and the birder teetering on the top of a set of extremely spindly stilts depicts the lengths a twitcher will go to in order to see a gripper. Again – it could just be me and my own reflecting back at me, but whether your life has been blessed by knowing a birder or not, I think you will get a huge amount out of these works.

I could go on and on – about the way Orkney, and St Margaret’s Hope in particular, have invaded Sheena’s recent paintings to beautiful effect, or about the sheer exceptional technical ability she has with paint, but I won’t. I will simply encourage you once more to get along to the Waterfront and enjoy!

© Clare Gee, 2009

Links

• Waterfront Gallery