From Saturday 7th to Thursday 19th of May, Vicki Redpath-Watson has a series of monoprints in the windows of Northlight Gallery, Stromness.

She says of her work:

 “Becoming ever more introspective since the Covid lockdown, I embarked on drawings of my hands and self-portraits.  

This evolved into a series of monoprints created from impressions of my body or face on paper and other surfaces.  The work is repetitive, reflective and addresses my long-term problems of body image and the way society views the female form.

Each time the process is the same: I prepare the paper, apply oil to my body and lie down on and move over the paper, but the results are unpredictable, only visible when graphite or another medium is applied.  Limbs are easy to spot, but by looking at small fragments details emerge: individual hairs, eye-lashes, an ear, a nipple.  These are self-portraits, but the sense of movement and shape echo the landscape that I run in and which in turn shapes me.

There is a ritualistic and contemplative element to the making of the scrolls.  Just as small details make up a body, the daily repetitions make an emotional diary of how I feel.  Un-rolling a scroll sends me back in time.”