As part of EDLC’s Trails + Tales heritage and arts programme, a further newly commissioned public art work by artist Rachel Barron has just been installed in Kirkintilloch near Barley Bank Canal walkway. The painted mural on the 6 pillars on either side of the canal, takes its inspiration from Rachel’s research into the famous Kirkintilloch Lion Foundry. The pattern has been developed from an illustration of a ventilation grating found within a Lion Foundry catalogue at William Patrick Library Archives, which, Rachel has abstracted and fragmented across the 6 pillars. Over the last week Rachel could be seen working on site, painting the mural and discussing ideas with the passing public.
Rachel Barron (b.1989) is an artist and educator from Glasgow. She holds a First Class BA (Hons) in Painting from Edinburgh College of Art (2011) and an MFA in Fine Art from the Valand Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden (2016). Responding to the patterns, materials and histories connected to the sites within which she works, Rachel creates installations that intertwine with their surroundings, expanding the viewer’s perception of familiar spaces.
With a long-standing interest in textiles, Rachel has constructed her own printmaking device which offers the possibility to hand-print limitless lengths of intricately patterned material, similarly to the industrial techniques used within calico print works. Originally designed as a tool to facilitate the production of her own work, the print device has since formed the basis of a series of participatory printmaking projects across the UK as well as the community engagement workshops for Trails and Tales. See, www.rachelbarron.co.uk
Other art works already sited include artist Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva at Kilmardinny Arts centre, Roddy Buchanan at Torrance, Auchinairn, Lenzie, Huntershill and Milton of Campsie, Graeme Roger at Bearsden Hub and Rachel Barron’s other works at Lennoxtown Hub and Milngavie Town Hall and Heritage centre. Trails and Tales is an arts and heritage learning programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Creative Scotland, which has engaged local and international artists with communities to explore local history and heritage. Interpretation about the artworks and their response to the heritage of the site is a major part of the Trails + Tales project and each artwork will be accompanied by either a small plaque and/or a weblink and QR code which will direct to information about the particular artwork on the project website http://www.trailsandtales.org.Â
Each of the creative projects have generated research, conversations and creative responses to inform the design and creation of a series of outdoors sculptural arts and heritage trails, across 11 local communities (towns and villages) in East Dunbartonshire and include Auchinairn, Baldernock, Bearsden & Westerton, Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Lennoxtown, Lenzie, Milngavie, Milton of Campsie, Torrance and Twechar.
