Art and Heritage Online Database

Collection: Gray's School of Art Fine Art Collection
Object Type: painting
Artist/Maker: Skinner, Fionn
Date: 2023
Media/Materials: 9mm MDF, gouache
Awards: RGU Drawing and Painting Purchase Award
Classification: Drawing and painting

Description:

Scotland’s wealth of culture and context influences me - my own work stemming from my love of birds and Scottish history, creating pieces that are influenced by my personal experiences and passions, and my awe at how feathers can sit so perfectly in ruffled rows.

Walton Ford and Scottish painted ceilings are my biggest sources of inspiration; the care and patience that goes into patterns and motifs lends well to the way I work, Ford’s illustrative painting style making his works immediately recognisable.

I prefer gouache on MDF as the surface has an absorbent quality that has washes of colour take on earthy hues, creating an excellent basis for building tone and form. The matte quality of gouache creates a life-like quality to the birds I paint and allows me to take my time between layers to think on my process.

In my pieces I explore figures in Scottish ‘folklore’, such as the Boobrie and the Wulver, highlighting the need for conservation of our wildlife, and our rich storytelling culture that has declined rapidly.
A laser cut composition featuring a rook and a magpie on a branch. The laser cut composition follows the shape of the birds and the branch they sit on. Painted with gouache. The paint work is unvarnished. Displayed in the 2023 degree show unframed.

Object Number: ABDRG2023.26.1