CAROLYNDA MACDONALD
Artist’s statement:
Where The Dragon Flies
As mythological creatures, dragons fly in the imagination, inhabiting the dreams of writers, artists, readers and viewers alike. My paintings occupy an analogous realm, operating in a space reminiscent of daydreams or areas of quietude within the mind. I endeavor to bring together both landscape and still life painting in ways not normally encountered. For me, it is exciting to employ a Chagall-like freedom to place anything anywhere and find a way to make sense of it all. In an increasingly busy and confusing world, I feel it is important to find solace for the soul, whether in art, music or literature, and these works are my contribution.
The landscapes in my paintings are conceived to instill a beguiling atmosphere, pushing beyond their assumed role as a backdrop. These views of the land, often with reflective water, imply the stillness of twilight integral to the whole and provide a tranquil space to retreat into.
Birds in particular, and occasionally animals, rouse the scene by actively engaging with the still life, but not in a way one would expect. The most recent works are imbued with an other-worldliness as the birds’ plumage takes on the patterns and textures of porcelain, fabric, paintings or even tattoos. In these parallel worlds, such as in ‘Spirit in an Ethereal World’, the creatures for me celebrate a freedom to express themselves beyond the frontier of reality. They speak to me of secret desires by means of a mysterious language, revealing fragments of an inner and subconscious realm. Perhaps too, the birds symbolize the transient nature of inspiration and the ideas that come to roost in the mind. The stillness of these scenes encourages these conventionally timid creatures to be at ease, and maybe, if one is lucky enough, land on one’s outstretched hand. In a land where the dragon flies, anything is possible as we tread a path on the margins of dreams and allow our imaginations to take to the air.
BIO:
1957: Born in Hannover, Germany
1979: University of Stirling, BSc Hon. Biology
1985: Fellowship of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, with The Special Examination in Bacteriology, Paddington College of Technology, London
1982-2014: Part-time courses in Life Drawing and Screen Printing, Chichester, London, Falmouth & Dundee
1982-97: Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology, holding a senior post at University College Hospital in London from 1989-97
1992-2003: Part-time courses in Stained Glass Techniques, London
1997-2003: Ran own business as a stained glass artist in London, working to commission and for exhibitions in London, Ashbourne and St. Andrews
2003-present: Living and working as a painter in Carnoustie, Scotland.
Exhibitions and Commissions
1991: Commissioned to do large oil painting, which hangs in the waiting room of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London
1999: Bruton Street Gallery, Mayfair, London, Summer Exhibition
2000: Ashbourne Gallery, British Contemporary Glass Society Show
2004: St. Andrew's Museum Cathedral Project, 'Pilgrims Exhibition'
2005: St Andrews Bay Hotel, Celebration of Art, fundraising art auction for High School of Dundee Patrons' Association
2006-10: Eduardo Alessandro Studios, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and at the Glasgow Art Fair and the Affordable Art Fair, London
2012-13: Iona House Gallery, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 'Scottish Art'
2016: W. Gordon Smith Award Exhibition, Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Spring Exhibition
2018: Tatha Gallery, Newport, Fife. Winter Show
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Christmas Show
2019: Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Summer Show
Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture selected for 193rd
Annual & Open Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1st November to 11th December
Forthcoming: Featured artist in ‘Birds of A Feather’ from 11th December, Stone Sparrow NYC Contemporary Art Gallery, 43-45 Greenwich Ave.,New York