‘Encounters With Place’ is the final of a linked series of three ‘Encounters’ exhibitions in 2011 by Perthshire Visual Artists Forum (PVAF) at Threshold Artspace, Perth Theatre. The exhibition features works selected by Arthur Watson, a major Scottish sculptor, printmaker and educator.

The show presents an intriguing range of work by 20 PVAF member artists: Tricia Anderson, Shelagh Atkinson, Margaret Bathgate, Thora Clyne, Ann Coomber, Genie Dee, Emma Herman-Smith, Gillian Hunt, George Logan, Mary Golden, Su Grierson, Chris Jenkinson, Astrid Leeson, Dawson Murray, Liz Murray, Malize McBride, Lesley McDermott, Jackie Smith, Aileen M Stackhouse, Clare Yarrington.

The artists have engaged with many aspects of place, from their own gardens to their upbringing, incidental and particular landscapes and buildings, from remote woodland to major cities. The media used include, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, digital images, screenprinting, etching, book form and video. Using drawing techniques Aileen stackhouse’s work Treeline references places along the River Ericht and over the Knockie hill behind Blairgowrie, while Malize McBride’s abstract landscape Elie, geologically references the varied geology of Elie in Fife. Mary Golden’s two works Evening Hill and Rising Mist use paint and drawing respectively to capture the breathtaking moments when the mist and cloud suddenly clear.

Chris Jenkinson’s painting Sexy Curves depicts the visual overload of one’s senses in New York, where in the midst of this organised chaos one can find patterns and rhythms. By contrast Astrid Leeson’s small delicate painting on plaster Journey to Work records an often unnoticed place she passes on her way to work. Various printing processes feature in the exhibition. Dawson Murray uses the etching process to turn the fennel plant of his garden into an abstract dream like space while Thora Clyne’s etchings show details from a chestnut flour mill, centuries old in Tuscany.

Clare Yarrington’s two screenprints Jammed II & III climb the corners of a Theatre space, suggestive of the handhold a climber has on the specific rockface while climbing.

Photography is represented by George Logan’s images Dark Time which are a visual exploration into a landscape of contradiction, of chaos and yet also of a profound mental solace. In direct contrast to this, Gillian Hunt represents the bottom of her garden with her Dancing with …. abstract plant images. Margaret Bathgate documents installations of her textile works within the gothic style Memorial Chapel on Falkland Estate. Tricia Anderson has two photographs which aim to capture the feeling and spirit of Sherrifmuir before, during and after a storm and Genie Dee’s photographic work Perth Station shows multiple views of platform 7 at the station, a place she has got to know rather well.

Digital images are featured by three artists. Emma Herman-Smith creates graphic works exploring the dominance of pylons and tangles of telephone wires in the landscape. Su Grierson creates digital photographic works Flatland and Dark Forest with incorporated texts that suggest an additional element of experiential or conceptual engagement and Jackie Smith’s digital print Rhew refers to a Scottish aquatic loch environment. Shelagh Atkinson’s screen prints engage with her own communist upbringing with images, an artist book and video referring to St Petersburg; while Lesley McDermott’s screen prints refer to the places visited in her travels as a young woman. Also inspired by travel, the mixed media work of Liz Murray refers back to the dance halls of 1920’s Paris. Ann Coomber presents a sculpture The Sea Is Singing which refers directly to her experience on a deserted Norfolk Beach.

This exciting exhibition is now on at Perth Theatre, 185 High Street, Perth PH1 5UW from 23 Oct 2011 until 20 Feb 2012, Monday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm or until 10pm on performance evenings (closed Sunday). Admission is free. Website:  www.horsecross.co.uk

For further details and information on PVAF, visit the web site at www.pvaf.org.uk

Source: PVAF