GILlian McFarland
VISUAL ARTIST & CREATIVE Collaborator
Working with scientists and researchers in scientific fields, Gillian has gained a different perspective in understanding how things are defined by the very processes that bring them into existence. Her practice begins with the processes of creating and develops in exploration of what unfolds. Her work considers not only the excitement of the chaotic act of creation, but also the resulting stillness of the aftermath. Reflecting on influences from both science and the natural world she is interested in the environment, the embodied knowledge that is held within landscapes and the dynamics of time and space.
Gillian’s ongoing exchange with Astronomer Amaury Triaud has expanded her practice and thinking as well as inspired the work of Amaury. It has produced two primary series-: Glass Globes and Flat Field prints.
Working in the glass studio became an opportunity to imagine something and figure out whether it can be created through a process of shared experimentation and learning;
“With glassblowing I am fascinated by the extremes of heat, violence and danger that the working process and environment inhabit, It offers Amaury and I the opportunity to explore ideas in a very physical and performance worthy way. These physical and sensory experiences create a tacit knowledge and understanding. We worked with ideas of gravity against the speed of rotation and molten glass. Working with expansion and collapse. We are interested in the juxtaposition of fragility and strength inherent in the medium.”
“Holding Gillian’s globes gives my work with exoplanets a tactile dimension…. Structure within structure within structure. Swirls of material interactions, mixing sometimes, remaining separate on others. Ebb and flow. Worlds are contained within these balls; universes and new histories are unfolding. They reflect how the striking simplicity of physical laws can transform into the most sublime of complexity.”
Flat Fields are calibration images taken before a typical astronomical sequence, at the evening and morning twilights. They show all the detectable defects; bad pixels, inhomogeneities, dust, coating etc that blur the telescopic images of galaxies, and beautiful nebulae. These normally unseen images, are essential to remove the defect from the “science frames” which will be taken during the night. Gillian transferred the Flat Fields onto plates, then on paper thereby transforming them into works of art.
“I like to think my practise is informed by the process of noticing, of contemplating and watching. I am drawn to discrepancies and inaccuracies, seeing if …and when …structures, patterns or meanings can emerge.”
“They transmuted from technical data to pieces containing the essence of planetary, nebular, galactic, cosmological and biologic phenomena. They have a new reality and carry whole new meanings.”
Gillian is co-founder of Creativity and Curiosity.
Selected Exhibitions:
Dark Skies Festival, An Lanntair Gallery, Stornoway, Outer Hebrides 2020
AIS (Association of Interdisciplinary Studies) Conference, University of Amsterdam (October 2019)
Moon 50 Festival, Glasgow Science Centre, 2019
Zeiss-Gross Planetarium, Berlin Science Week, 2018
RSA Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh, 2018
Visions of Science Exhibition, The Edge, University of Bath, 2018
National Space Centre as part of British Science Week, 2018