Bryan Mouat: Workshop Bursary

Artist Support

12 Sep

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing blog posts written by 20/21 Workshop Bursary recipients. Today, Bryan Mouat shares his creative process and thoughts about his time in the Gaada workshop.

“Following a difficult experience at university, I found myself crumbling with anxiety and struggling to create. The Gaada workshops gave me the opportunity to simply get out and get arty again. Having access to the studio gave me a newfound drive to create and it was so nice to have big tables to work on and lay everything out and not worry about making a mess.

During isolation I found a lot of comfort in Shetland’s standing stones. These stones stand strong and stoic, unweathered by everything the world has to throw at them. In contrast with this natural wonder, I found myself constantly immersed in digital spaces through screens and video games. I wanted to explore the contrast between these natural and virtual landscapes, but I was very overwhelmed at how to approach it. Through discussing my ideas in the workshop we began the process of creating imagery, to aid the development of this project. Initially I had a collection of polaroids and film photos of standing stones to draw ideas from

Frustrated with drawing, we explored alternative methods of image making. Monoprinting was particularly freeing. You have to write backwards so the print comes out the right way and this really helped me let go and loosen up. We made more prints by inking stone shaped pieces of fabric (scrim, muslin, hessian, cotton, wool) and putting them through the printing press. All the textures transferred to the paper really well. By the end of the session both tables were covered with prints. I later scanned the prints to collate them digitally and develop them into risograph prints.

What I was most excited to try was risograph printing. Riso prints have a really appealing grainy quality, and utilise a limited colour palette. It’s also more environmentally friendly than conventional printing, using plant based inks. I was taught how to prepare files for riso printing, make colour separations and operate the printer. I used the budget to buy paper in a range of colours and weights to experiment with how prints look and feel on different cardstock. Some combinations came out… interesting... but other papers really enhanced the quality of prints. I intend to make more prints and publications so this process will help significantly with developing future projects.

We also explored zine making, looking through books on zine making from Gaada’s collection and experimenting with different ways to fold and cut paper into a booklet. From this emerged a new idea of a stone which opens up from the middle to reveal a soft, vulnerable exterior.

This process helped me find my feet again. It was incredibly validating to have funding and support as an artist. A lot of times I have felt I had to go to lengths to justify pursuing art, but in Gaada I was understood and appreciated. Now I have a body of work I am proud of, and I will have my own exhibition at Gaada towards the end of the year.”