An enneaptych of photopolymer prints, illustrating a 19th century event on the Isle of Skye, related to the Highland Clearances. The print series was created as part of Northword's Creative Storytagging Project, promoting the stories of remote Northern regions through the arts.
THE PROJECT
The imagery is based on The Crew of the Lochiel, a story about an event that took place during the Highland Clearances in 1884, a time of mass migration and displacement as local crofters were forced to leave their homeland. The steamer ship Lochiel was planned to be sent to the Isle of Skye as an army barracks, along with gun boats, in an attempt to thwart the crofters resistance to being evicted. Captain Cameron, and some other members of the crew, left the ship and refused to be involved in this task.
THE PROCESS
To explore the story I spent time in the Kilmuir and Glendale areas of Skye where the story was set. I also explored archived photographs, letters, maps and newspaper articles from the period.
A strong element of the story (compiled by historical researcher Katie Murray) was excerpts from newspaper articles which gave the sense of information about the event being in motion. In the archives there were also letters and other documents that had journeyed across Skye, to mainland Scotland, and beyond. I incorporated text from newspaper extracts included in the original story, in addition to excerpts from letters, as prominent features of the design. Landscape photos of the area, 19th century crofting photographs, excerpts from letters from the archives, and newspaper articles from the area were incorporated as layers of the design.
The background of each print is a section of Murdoch MacKenzie's beautiful maritime chart. Each section works independently while also creating the atmosphere of the story as a whole. The Kilmuir and Glendale section of the map is prominent on the bottom left plate, with the larger area of Skye extending out across the design in fragments. The map being divided, yet ultimately connected as a whole, emphasises the polarities of fracturing and unity inherent at the time of the Highland clearances.
The colours I selected for the design are intended to evoke a feeling of Scotland - purple, green, sepia, and blue. Expressive wiping of the ink was used, along with a slight distressing of the matrix at the digital design stage. After being hand-inked, the plates were printed onto cotton-based paper, using a 19th century printing press. For the final stage, each print was embellished with 23.5ct gold leaf, to represent the hope amidst troubled times.
COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS
With thanks to the Skye and Lochalsh Archives for permission to
use images from their collections.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive. The British Library Board. All rights reserved. (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk).
MacKenzie's Chart reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
MacKenzie's Chart reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
