Johan Thomson is an Orcadian artist
currently in her final year at Edinburgh College of Art studying drawing and
painting.
Our lack of sense of place can
explain disconnection from nature, history, spirituality and personal identity.
It is only through understanding yourself, your purpose, what you are good at
and where you come from that you can appreciate and evaluate what is outside
you. I was born and brought up in Hoxa, Orkney and feel a sense of frustration
at not fully knowing a place that I have been surrounded by for so long. Through
investigating Hoxa, I hope to discover my own identity as well as the character
and identity of the place.
My work explores the character and nature of the place through photography, drawing, painting and site-based work; looking at Hoxa's layers of history, its inhabitants, its physical character, its geology and the way the land has been worked over generations, affecting how it looks now. I have approached the place from land, sea and air looking at shapes, rhythms, colours, textures and surfaces. I hope my work will inform the viewer of the subtle qualities which often go unnoticed but which are integral to the character of the place.
