Banff’s new art show is all light now

An art exhibition that has been three years in the making is now on show in Aberdeenshire.
Georgia Rose Murray, who is based in Fife, uses the language of painting to explore the mystical reality of Northern landscapes.
Georgia’s exhibition, First Darkness, Then Light is the culmination of three years of research and studio practice, with the intent having been to investigate natural light on Northern Landscapes. It is being staged in Banff’s Duff House
The whole exhibition is to present an expressive, descriptive, visually alluring, emotionally striking body of work which will alert people to the beauty of the Arctic landscape.
The display opened on Sunday, October 1, and will run until December 3, with many of the paintings available for sale.
Georgia’s research began when she flew to Iceland and spent one month during the middle of the winter exploring the dramatic and beautiful landscape surrounding Pingeyri, a tiny village on the North-West coast.
For three weeks of her stay, the sun did not rise beyond the mountain tops. Huge shadows were cast over the fjord and amid heavy snow fall daily, everything was bathed in a dull greenish blue hue. The Icelandic inspired paintings are situated in the galleries downstairs.

Georgia Rose Murray’s exhibition, First Darkness, then Light, is currently on show at Duff House in Banff

Upstairs, in The Long Gallery, the works have been inspired by a research trip to Arctic Svalbard last summer during a period of Midnight Sun.
Georgia was invited to make research as a guest of the Czech Centre for Polar Ecology in the incredibly sublime location of Petuniabukta, a bay surrounded by icecaps, glaciers, mountains and Fjords.
Whilst in Petuniabukta, it was requested by law that she carried flares in her pockets and a rifle for self-protection, in case of encountering a polar bear.
Georgia said: “At almost 79 degrees north the location of Petuniabukta is humbling. Mirror-like Billafjorden, the surrounding snow scattered peaks and the rushing sky comprise the most incredible space.
“The constantly circling sun illuminates the bay 24 hours a day creating ever evolving shafts of bright colour and deep shadows from every angle.
“Always aware of the power of nature, in a place where there are more polar bears than people, I experienced consistent feelings of awe, fear, elation and complete liberation.”
In several paintings she has depicted an ivory gull; a symbol of the fragility of the Arctic environment due to climate change; rising temperatures in the Arctic mean other birds are invading the ivory gull’s previously tranquil territory.
The newest works transcend time and seasons, showing colours and symbols of winter and summer and of darkness and light, together within one painting.