2-29th Nov 2023, Main Hall, The Briggait.

"Dùthchas" refers to a deep-rooted connection to heritage, land, and community, embodying a sense of belonging tied to ancestry, culture, and place.

This piece was part of a show leading up to Rising Tides, where I tested ideas from 2nd to 29th November 2023 in the Main Hall of The Briggait.

The work explores my ongoing fascination with steel, limestone, and flax, intertwined with newer concepts of ancestral muscle memory. Earlier this summer, I joined a nine-person crew to cross the Inner Hebrides aboard a Sigma 42 sailboat. This journey was a personal endeavour to connect with my master mariner ancestors who once owned the renowned ‘smack’ (boat), The Lady Margaret, on the island of Lismore.

I discovered that the term ‘tow rope’ traditionally originates from tow flax—the coarse fibres produced during the scutching stage of flax processing—and that sails were historically made from linen.

During the creation of this piece, I concentrated on performing physical actions and tasks that allowed me to forge a deeper connection with my ancestors. On the residency, I collaborated with the crew to manoeuvre various ropes that controlled the sails, adjusting our speed and direction in response to the wind and sea. These continuous physical motions inspired the installation, which aims to capture the vastness and ever-changing nature of space and time through raw materials, audio, and air.