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Our Lady of Isbister

Our Lady of Isbister (aka Luckyminney)
by Jen Hadfield
Friday 13th October - Friday 15th December 2006
Location: Stromness Library

by jen hadfield
Our Lady of Isbister 2006
by Jen Hadfield

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Our Lady of Isbister by Jen Hadfield
The Gallery will be changing location for this exhibition and is located on the outsize shelf at Stromness Library.

"Luckyminney is mentioned in A-P A Book of Old Fair Isle Words as one of the Guidfick (fairies who were capable of doing harm when angered).

"She wriggled into my psyche last September - I was half-drowned in a rainstorm at Fethaland, in the far north of (mainland) Shetland. It was dusk, but I badly wanted to get to the fishing station and back.

"I took the road through the croft at Isbister, and a mile or so over the hill. By the time I got to the fishing station, I was completely sodden. I met Luckyminney in her blue anorak. She asked me how my walk was going, bowled the last lamb into the back of the truck. Her tail-lights blazed off up the track.

"I made Luckyminney in January from the end of a washed-up broom handle in Hamnavoe. I was staying in the Booth (a living space and studio) in Scalloway and spent some hours whittling out her head and profile.

"I had found a yellow rubber glove too, and that looked like it would make some Elf and Shoemaker sized wellies."

Jen has written a poem 'Our Lady of Isbister' to accompany her work at the Peedie:

Our Lady of Isbister
O send me another life like this –
I want the same lochans as I had before –

the wind driving spittle strings
against skimpy shores of dark red stone;

same hot sweet slaw
of muck and shit and trampled straw;

the chimney bubbling transparent heat;
a whirlpool of Muscovy ducks;

paet-reek;
a scrambling clutch of piglet-pups;

the wet socks
slamdunked along the washing line;

the shucked wet shirts in gospel
grey and sparkling sun;

wet white bell
of an XXl teeshirt, swung

 

» View the exhibition (new window)

» Exhibition catalogue (398Kb Adobe PDF)

» Exhibition poster (1,441Kb Adobe PDF)
JPG version (opens in new window)

» More information about Jen Hadfield...

» Jen Hadfield's website...

'Our Lady of Isbister' is not for for sale.

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