This month the Loft Gallery in St Margaret’s Hope plays host to The Circle Remains an exhibition by Adam Clarke which explores memory, loss and time through the photographic medium.

Standing in the gallery space one gets a real sense of peace, quietude and stillness from these pieces. There is a freshness akin to walking the shore on a calm crisp day. Yet at the same time there is an underlying presence, of things hidden, just out of reach. A slightly otherworldly feel as the artist invites us to enter this in-between place. The edge of the shoreline, a liminal space where boundaries are blurred between land/sea, past/future, absence/presence, the living and the dead. For the artist, the sea is a place haunted by memories of childhood family holidays, walks and visits with those dear.

The circle referred to in the title of the exhibition, references the five beautifully framed images which depict a white ribboned circle inscribed onto the Orkney landscape. The circle bisects the horizon line, framing the view within. The ghostly mark in the air drawn by a person now absent yet whose presence we feel. Only the trace of their being remains, scribbled in the air. Each photograph is a portrait, the mark made, a signature, as individualistic as the person who drew it.

There are faint echoes of Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy in these interventions. Like both these artists, Adam is interested in the process of interaction with the environment through walking and mark-making. In common with both Long and Goldsworthy he chooses photography to document these transitory acts.

In Found, we move away familiar landscapes and instead find ourselves questioning what is real/unreal. In these pieces the artist plays around with the idea of time and reality. Polaroids are usually associated with instantly capturing a moment, yet these are highly processed images. Using AI, the artist has playfully created imagined images reminiscent of underwater
archaeological finds, familiarly eerie yet not familiar.

On the wall facing the stairs are three close-up shots of autumn seaweed. The colours change from green to warm orange like trees further south, marking cyclical time. Against the white wall of the gallery, they appear like portals onto the beach outside. These immersive pieces give the illusion of slowly walking the tideline alongside the artist, stopping then bending down to get a closer look at the seaweed.

And that is exactly what this exhibition is about. The artist inviting us to join him by the sea, to remember people and places. To question time and what is reality, and crucially to slow down and take a closer look at where we are.

Sheena Graham-George

The Circle Remains an Exhibition by Adam Clarke
Loft Gallery, St Margaret’s Hope

2nd – 29th October Tues – Sat 10am – 5pm