Richard Dalgleish
North Berwick
My art practice is rooted in a desire to capture a sense of loss and to unravel our use of memory close to the universal constant at the end of life.
MessageMy current project, Scatter, is a deeply personal and emotional exploration of the spaces between life and death inspired by my daughter, Rebecca’s, eighteen-month journey through cancer to her death and by my own parallel journey as I watched her die and tried to cope with life without her. Scatter is a project born from the desire to make sense of loss, which might, in some small way, contribute to the understanding of grief in society. Grief and art seem to be a good match; art provides a way to make sense of the raw emotions and turmoil surrounding death.
This project gives an insight into my motivations and interests.
My research and creative works are based around photography, in which I obtained a BA Honours Degree with the Open College of the Arts, a distance learning University. I come from Edinburgh in Scotland and currently live and work in East Lothian.
Statement
When my daughter Rebecca died from cancer, I went through an extended period of traumatic grief which I experienced as if I was on a dark path, shrouded in shadow, in a never-ending half-light. Locked within my thoughts, with whispered secrets, fading memories and regrets. I thought all grief looked and felt like this.
I used my learning experience through photography as a curative journey which opened up new paths with enlightenment and different perspectives which came through learning, knowledge and creative expression. I was inspired to explore the cultural, social, anthropological and politics of loss and to express myself through art.
My description of paths is key to my creative process. My work begins with quiet observation, introspection and research. These steps lead me to a deep connection with my subject, to recognise what it is that attracts me to a particular project and to connect with that project both visually and emotionally. My art practice is rooted in the photographic image, and I work across different genres of photography, experimenting with digital and traditional photography as well as video and physical installations. I am interested in the idea behind an artwork as my central focus. Through my art, I seek to understand and capture a sense of that loss and to unravel our use of memory close to the universal constant at the end of life.
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