Natasha Russell’s ‘Murmurations’ piece marks the culmination of her six month ‘artist in residency’ programme with charity Foundation Scotland. It brings together snippets of imagery which reflect various aspects of the foundation and the projects it supports. She used linocut printing onto thin, strong Japanese paper, which was then printed in tiles of various sizes and mounted directly on the wall.
And Natasha, who graduated in painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 2013 and has since been working as a printmaking technician and artist, hopes it will capture the unique energy of the group and be a holistic and permanent visual representation of the organisation, which funds community projects. She said: “I wanted to develop a piece of artwork that captured Foundation Scotland’s energy and one which incorporated elements from every facet of the organisation. Through conversations with funders, community groups and members of staff, I learned about the different processes and values existing at work within the organisation and began to develop drawings and designs to reflect the patterns. “I wanted to develop something that could be both a site-specific installation but also something that could be owned by some of the many individuals and groups linked to the Foundation who are spread across Scotland. Working with the idea of murmurations, the formations of starlings moving as huge and dynamic groups, I cut and collaged together linocuts prints to create a wall piece that aims to reflect the varied and fluid yet supportive structure of Foundation Scotland.”
Praising her, Charmaine Ferris, from Foundation Scotland, said: “Natasha’s artwork has beautifully captured the various different strands of Foundation Scotland and the projects we support. One of the things that I love most is how people can read into it however they want; different people see different stories in each of the images.”
The 28-year-old’s placement was set up by Arts & Business Scotland’s ‘Creativity at Work’ scheme, which seeks to encourage creative thinking in business.
