​The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

17 August – 10 November 2024

As part of our 10th anniversary programme for The Suttie Art Space, Grampian Hospitals Art Trust invited artist Toni Harrower to curate an exhibition featuring artists who graduated from Moray School of Art in Elgin. Kirsty Duguid, Kayleigh Kellas and Morag Smith worked with Toni to create the fun and colourful installation ‘Bilberry Lane’ that brings a sense of playfulness and joy to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

The work artwork in exhibition in The Small Gallery is by Kayleigh Kellas, who has also painted the mural across two of The Suttie Arts Spaces walls. Taking inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, Kayleigh’s process is mostly concerned with the joyful and unpredictable creative process that goes into making the work. Primarily using oil paint, she creates layered and gestural paintings, often deconstructing them to create smaller series.

Working primarily in collections unified by a set colour palette or selection of gesture-making tools, Kayleigh employs colour and gesture as a form of painterly language. While a combination of rural, domestic
and inner landscapes inform the beginnings of each painting, the creative process removes any trace of the original image and leaves the work to be interpreted by each viewer in their own unique way.