Creative Dundee

The Loom Runs. The Smoke Rises. // Exhibition

 

Nicola Wiltshire‘s exhibition presents a series of paintings on waxed cotton that explore the people, processes and innovation that make Halley Stevensons one of Dundee’s last surviving textiles factories. These colourful portraits and landscapes offer an artist’s view of the workings of the factory and consider what makes the historic Baltic Works thrive today. These were made as part of Nicola’s residency with Halley Stevensons.

The Baltic Works chimney was the first thing I wanted to paint when I moved to Dundee, so I’m very excited that I’m now painting from a studio inside the factory. Dundee has a rich textiles heritage, but for this exhibition I wanted to highlight what is being produced in the city today. The waxed cotton is beautiful to paint on, although it took me a while to figure out the best way of doing this. 

It all creates an atmosphere that has really worked its way into the paintings. My favourite part of the project has definitely been the very honest visits from the guys that work in the factory, at times giving me feedback that I didn’t want to hear but am glad I did!

The exhibition will be on at Verdant Works from July 29th – October 29th. On the opening day you can attend a ‘Meet the Artist’ event from 2-4pm.

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