EXHIBITION: Nigg/\Cromarty/\Nigg reveals artists' starkly contrasting views of Highland communities
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CONTRASTING areas of the Highlands facing one another at the heart of the new Cromarty Firth freeport are being put under the spotlight by remarkable artists in a trailblazing exhibition.
Nigg/\Cromarty/\Nigg, bringing together the work of Sue Jane Taylor and Ian Westacott, will be unveiled at Cromarty Stables on Friday.
It's the first time former Fortrose Academy pupil Taylor and her partner Westacott, who live near Dornoch, have exhibited together.
Nigg/\Cromarty/\Nigg brings together opposites: industry and nature, new and old, machines and trees, just as the Port of Nigg and the historic town of Cromarty face each other across the entrance to the Cromarty Firth.
Taylor has depicted the energy industry throughout her career and was resident artist at the Port of Nigg site in 2020-21. Nigg was transformed by major industrial development during the heights of the Scottish oil boom in the 1970s and is at the heart of a renewables revolution now with offshore wind turbines assembled there even taller and more impressive than the oil rigs were.
See also: King visits Port of Nigg in Easter Ross
Her paintings, sketches and working drawings capture the scale and complexity of the machinery and processes involved in these massive feats of engineering and show the people at the heart of the Port – a unique insight into a world of work which remains a mystery to most.
Across the water, many of the elm, oak and sweet chestnuts trees that were planted around Cromarty in the 18th and 19th centuries have been ravaged by time and disease. Ian Westacott’s intricate etchings of these and other ancient trees, drawn from life, show a different kind of structure impacting the landscape and provide a historic record of these disappearing titans of the natural world.
Despite the contrasts, the two artists’ works are unified by deep empathy for their subject matter and their makers’ extraordinary powers of observation.
To coincide with the exhibition, there will be a special screening of the 2021 BBC Scotland documentary Rigs of Nigg at Victoria Hall, Cromarty on August 19. It was produced and directed by Don Coutts and edited by Cromarty resident Lindy Cameron and combines original footage of the early days of the Nigg fabrication yard in the 1970s with the recollections of men and women who worked there.
The screening will be followed by Q&A with Sue Jane Taylor and some of the local stars of the film.
The exhibition will be at the Cromarty Stables from August 19 to 27 August 2023 and is sponsored by Global Energy Group/Port of Nigg and the Cromarty Arts Trust.
See http://www.cromartyartstrust.org.uk for the exhibition opening times and to book tickets for the Rigs of Nigg screening.
Want to know more?
Sue Jane Taylor is a visual artist who was born and brought up on the Black Isle. Her works include the Piper Alpha Memorial at Aberdeen.
Her work is held in many public and private collections including Aberdeen Art Gallery &Museums, City of Edinburgh Council and the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
She studied at Gray’s School of Art Aberdeen, Slade School of Fine Art London and Kungliga Konsthögskolan (The Royal Institute of Art), Stockholm, Sweden.
See also: Rigs of Nigg set for TV showcase
Ian Westacott, printmaker and artist, was born in Australia and studied Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts. His work is represented internationally in private and public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria and Aberdeen Art Gallery.
See also: Artist helps trees live on after they die
