Monique Sliedrecht

TOWARD THE NORTHERN NIGHT
 
31 JULY - 24 AUGUST 2021
THE LOFT GALLERY, ST MARGARET'S HOPE, ORKNEY

Monique Sliedrecht has been developing a new body of work using found objects and paint. These ‘combine' pieces bring together familiar elements from her previous paintings including seafaring images, but also chart new territories and impressions of place. 

In February 2020, Monique first heard rumours of a spreading Coronavirus whilst visiting her parents in Ontario, Canada.  On her return to Edinburgh, she soon realised that it would be some time before she could go anywhere, so she relocated to her northern home in Scotland at Freswick Castle, where she has been based full-time since then.

Her thoughts often go from Scotland to Canada, to the Netherlands, back to Scotland again - all places tied in to her background. While she cannot travel to Canada right now, it is possible to look up and see the moon when it shines, and recognise our common humanity under its light and glow - a source of great comfort.  That map of sky connects us - from North America, to Scotland, to India, to Australia….

The new works reflect aspects of the world around her on this coastal edge of Scotland where sky and sea meet.  The immensity of night sky and open sea become one, welcoming the darkness.  There are no city lights in the north.  There is just the celestial canopy of the stars.   The night sky is a map uniting us; the cosmos bringing messages and glimmers of hope and light.

Sliedrecht’s combine pieces are contained worlds, alluding to the mystery of the universe, and our deep connectivity.   Some pieces are placed in boxes directing the eye to a given place along with the immensity of this universe.  As opposed to two dimensional work, the pieces are physical spaces to explore, drawing from elements washed ashore.

The boat is a motif for travel and adventure, symbolising the way home.  There is an immediacy to the seafaring vessel, as it positions itself in the context of this open space.   It is a home away from home and a form of imaginary journey in a time when travel is not permissible.

The poet, George Mackay Brown, has been an inspiration for Monique, along with his home island of Orkney.  Rosemary Goring writes about the Orkney poet in an article for the Herald, suggesting that ‘‘Though he did not travel often or far…, Brown had a vast aesthetic and moral map in his head." As the poem Places To Visit, concludes, “Thorfinn, you will learn more in Orkney/ Than Mansie did/ Who made seven salt circles of the globe”.

Brown believed it and lived accordingly. Stromness contains just a couple of thousand people, but for him they represented all.’"

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This time has been a further exploration of the outer and inner worlds. Each piece is a poem, a small song, created in an attempt to establish a deeper sense of belonging in a time of shifting certainties.