Working within the fields of paper cutting and painting, visual artist Anna Shirron often looks at the concept of what’s ugly and what’s beautiful.
Known for producing large-scale installations which are focused on patterns and intricate details, Anna aims to “explore and document time”.
She said: “I use materials, patterns and motifs that may normally be considered purely decorative to depict more challenging subject matters.
“My work also looks at the idea of the passing of time, where the documentation and the memory of the work becomes the work itself, as opposed to a physical piece of work that can be held and displayed on a wall.
“Each piece takes hundreds of hours and it is a bit of a labour of love.
“I have recently started documenting the process that goes into creating the work as I have realised it can be as significant as the installed pieces.
“My work is a bit of a journey where the finished pieces are often the least important part of the process.
“Often the methods I use to document the work become a piece of art in their own right.”
Anna said the best thing about being an artist is being able to use her creativity as a powerful tool to express her thoughts and ideas.
The visual artist said: “Not many people get to say they love the job they do and I have been extremely lucky to be able to use my education and experience not just to create work for myself but also to be able to use it to help others create work that is meaningful to them too.”
Inspired by overlooked objects and spaces, Anna likes to encourage people to take a second look at spaces they see on a regular basis such as buildings and parks they walk past often but don’t stop to look at what’s actually there.
She said: “I enjoy using highly patterned and detailed creations to highlight an otherwise overlooked space.”
Anna studied painting at Gray’s School of Art, graduated in 2007 and completed her Masters degree in 2010. She also works as a senior creative practitioner for Grampian Hospitals Art Trust and works on the Artroom project.
She said: “We work with patients, staff and visitors who attend various hospitals throughout NHS Grampian.
“I also teach on the Imagination, Creativity and Innovation in Science course at Aberdeen University.”
For her 2007 degree show, Anna explored the idea of chromophobia – the fear of colour.
She said: “Back when I was studying, there was a period where paintings were very ‘earthy’ – lacking in bright colours and pattern.
“It was an interesting period of exploration for me as I delved deeper into why the art world seemed to have a bit of a fear of colour in their work during that time.
“This work was a culmination of this body of research and I was proud to win two Royal Scottish Academy awards with one of the paintings in it – one of which now lives in the permanent collection at RGU.”
A decade later, Anna was commissioned by Grampian Hospitals Art Trust to work in collaboration with artist Rachel Barron on an installation in the Suttie Arts Space at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
She said: “We worked together to create work that was a direct response to the space and the hospital building, looking for patterns and details we found ran throughout the hospital building and then creating work that was a response to this.
“This has been one of the most interesting collaborations I have worked on.
“Collaboration is something that can be difficult at times especially when you are in different locations but it worked out very well.
“The fascinating thing was our work and creative practices were so different to each other’s but when we brought them together it made for a great contrast.”
Prior to coronavirus, Anna would run paper cutting and painting workshops where locals could try our various techniques and create interesting artwork.
The artist said: “I run paper cutting workshops at The Barn in Banchory and I look forward to returning to run these once things return to some sort of normality after Covid-19.
Anna said the way she would create work has changed significantly throughout the pandemic.
She stated: “During the 12-week lockdown in the spring of 2020, I found myself working at home with my two young children at home too.
“I created work in the evenings once my children were in bed and I looked for locations that were very local to me to create installations for.
“This made me look at the spaces I had available to me in a different way, looking at the way the light changed during the day and what impact this would have on any work I created.
“I started documenting the process of me creating the work around the chaotic environment I was living in during lockdown and I realised that this process was as important to what I was trying to achieve.”
Anna said this period also helped her better understand why she does what she does.
She explained: “My work has always been considered detailed and time-consuming but I hadn’t considered before that my work is very much a documentation of the passage of time.
“This isn’t something I feel you always ‘get’ from an installation in a gallery space and the time I had during lockdown to document the creation of my work gave me the opportunity to streamline my ideas.”
Anna also decided to explore the possibility of using light and sound within her work.
She said: “A period to experiment with light and sound in different locations allowed me to explore the ways in which my installations can have their biggest impact.
“I further explored the use of video to document the process of creating my work and looked at ways for the ‘journey’ to be captured in a way that becomes a piece of art.”
Visit www.shirron.art for more information
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