Gail Brodholt
Linocut
Signed and titled
Numbered from the edition of 75
Image size: 700 x 400 mm
Paper size: 840 x 560 mm
Contact the Studio on 0207 407 6561 for framing options and prices
Every print sold comes with a free copy of the accompanying book 'A Common Place', which includes reproductions of all the artworks and poems created for the project
Gail was paired with Gillian Colhoun for the Common Place project.
Gillian: Gail and I live 500 miles apart. She's in metropolitan East London. I’m in the north of Ireland surrounded by rolling drumlins and a hyper-verdant colour palette - the counterpoint to Gail’s normal subject matter. Quite quickly we agreed to explore the theme of solitude through contrast. I addressed it as something familiar and comforting, while Gail depicted Borough Market, not as its normal bustling and busy self, but as a strange and other worldly empty shell.
Life had been so chaotic during lockdown that my body was yearning for peace and contemplation. Near my house, I can make a short journey up a grassy lane, pass through a rusty old gate towards my favourite egg-shaped hill. There, I can sit in silence, take a breath and enjoy the sometimes-view of the Mourne Mountains. My sestude is a testament to the restorative power of that solitary experience.
By emphasising the contrast in our two places, looking for areas of tension and relief, we hoped to find a simple balance.
A Time of Quiet, by Gillian Colhoun
There is freedom in
hiding plainly
In private corners
of blissful silence
Where restless journeys
back and forth
Prompt breathless questions
in and out.
On velvet hills
laden with thistles
Cloudy thoughts circling
above my head
Transition into beautiful
conversations with myself.
Where mountains whisper
goodbye and hello
Using misty cloaks
of anonymity to
disappear and reappear
I come back to me.