This August, The Glasgow Gallery becomes a space for reflection and connection as Scottish Artist Ellis O’Connor and Fife based Ceramicist Jean Bay Frazer unveil entirely new bodies of work capturing transition, exploration, and a remarkable period of personal and creative growth.
After opening on Saturday 1st August with a Meet the Artist, the exhibition offers a stirring journey through the landscapes and coastlines of Scotland and New Zealand, exploring memory, belonging and a period of transformation.
Widely known for her large-scale, express abstract oil paintings created with depth and atmosphere which connect deeply with admirers and collectors alike, Ellis has a remarkable way of capturing not only the landscape, but how it feels to stand within it. Full of movement and emotion, her work invites viewers to pause and become immersed in each piece.
Ellis O’Connor: Carrying Light, Small File (Image: Supplied)
This latest collection marks an exciting new chapter in Ellis’ practice. Inspired from her travels across New Zealand earlier this year, the paintings reflect growth, creative freedom and a new use of colour.
She said: “I think what excites me the most about this collection is that it comes from a significant period of change and expansion. It’s so important to me as an artist to continue to fill my cup up with new inspiration, to get out of my comfort zone and to develop and grow alongside my work.
“I really don’t try and dictate the colours I’m going to use or have a plan but there have been colours I’ve been really drawn to recently a lot more since returning from New Zealand. It’s always interesting to be guided by the process and allow the development to happen organically.”
While the dramatic landscapes of both Scotland and New Zealand share many similarities, it was the intensity of the colours that left the greatest impression on Ellis as she travelled during their summer months with everything feeling saturated and intense and the light so different to the light at home.
She said: “I can’t really explain it but it just felt so different emotionally. Also the landscape is more varied; from glaciers, to rainforests, everything felt that bit extra heightened and larger!”
One of the larger pieces in the exhibition titled ‘Earth in Motion’ was inspired from memories of her trek through the vast rainforests, “this piece feels so powerful and full of many layers which in different light, reveal themselves in different ways. It came from many scenes in my head of walking through gigantic buzzing alive rainforests and the feeling of being small and immersed so completely in it.”
Alongside the work of Ellis O’Connor is that of Jean Bay Frazer of Bay Studio with a new collection of ceramic’s which share her connection to the landscape.
Having studied alongside each other at Art School before following their own creative paths, Jean designs and glazes each piece with inspiration from the coastline and forest’s of Fife which surround her studio.
The work of ceramicist Jean Bay Frazer (Image: Supplied)
Featuring 18 new vases created as Jean prepared for motherhood, they too mark an exciting new chapter in her practice as well as her personal life. While most of her creations are centred around tableware with forms repeated, these vessels, made as one-off designs, offered a break in the routine.
A chance to work intuitively rather than to a predetermined design and providing Jean with a renewed sense of creativity and expression.
She said: “The forms emerged through a kind of flow state, shaped by instinct, curiosity and the pleasure of making without expectation. The glazing process followed a similar approach. Each vessel was glazed in response to its individual form, with intuitive glaze application.”
Together, the works in ‘Landscapes of Becoming’ mark a moment of change, both personal and creative, for each Artist. Their work compliments one another while echoing the themes of growth, transition and their evolving relationship with the natural world.