Mhairi Killin RSA has lived and worked on Iona since 1997. A multi-discipline artist, Killin’s practice explores the island landscapes that surround and are her home.
Killin's work seeks to understand place from a specific perspective; one of inquiry into how belief structures, religious and political, have shaped the physical and metaphysical landscapes she journeys through. Killin has undertaken residencies at the Leighton Arts Colony in Banff, Canada; Arteles, FInland; Cove Park; Inch Kenneth and two residencies awarded by the RSA: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye and Taigh Chearsabhagh on North Uist. Works informed by these residencies were exhibited at the RSA in 2012 and 2013. She is a founding member of the 6˚ WEST artists’ collective which represented Scotland at the RESArtis Conference in Montreal in 2010.
Recent work has explored the iconoclasm of the Reformation and its impact on the auditory landscapes of the islands of Lewis and Iona whilst current work continues to explore representations of political and religious belief in landscape through an inquiry into the proximity of God and warfare in the contemporary landscapes of the Hebrides. Continued learning of Gaelic allows another dimension of understanding of the landscapes Killin explores and she views this learning as an intrinsic part of her practice.
