This work began with a conversation about barriers in Fore Street, St Ives. Whilst I was drawing the beautiful shapes that surrounded workers covering holes in the road, a passing construction worker told me what they were called: chapter 8 barriers.
I instinctively work outdoors. Every sketch and print here was made outdoors in main streets chatting to tourists, or alone atop the Tate St Ives against a Cornish stone wall which served as my studio for a while.
The resulting work borrows shapes and ideas from my surroundings. The permutations of the shape began as a soft pastel sketch then evolved into collage on found paper, relief and finally screenprint. Every time I re-imagined this shape and worked in a different medium new permutations appeared. This way of working allowed the freedom for endless possibilities and has led to this new body of work which is still ongoing.
Whilst on residency I contacted artists working out of Porthmeor Studios. Connecting with an unknown group of artists and spaces was invigorating, especially against the backdrop of St Ives, which has always inspired me through artists such as Patrick Heron, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Roger Hilton and Sandra Blow.
Rosalind Lawless was born in Glasgow in 1978. She graduated with a Masters of Fine Art Printmaking from the Royal College of Art, London in 2004. Recent awards include the RSA Residencies for Scotland, RSA William Littlejohn Award, Scholarship to the International Academy of Fine Arts, Salzburg, Bet Low Award, shortlisted for the Anna Lobner/Dusseldorf Exchange. Collections include: National Galleries of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, PATHFOOT Stirling University, Pallant House Gallery and Museum Chicester.
