The Small Gallery
Current exhibition
The Land , The Sea & My People – Cathy MacLeod
The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary – open 24 hours
4 Sept 2021 – 14 Nov 2021
Artist Statement
“Everyone’s life is a journey, with destinations, memories, and relationships along the way.
I was born in the village of Veifa’a Mekeo in Papua Niugini. My people live by the rhythms of nature. Growing and catching their food from the river, the sea and the land, careful not to endanger the environment.
Living in Scotland, I am captivated by the contrasting landscapes and strange creatures.
My exhibition “The Land, the Sea and My People” expresses my cultural journey to my new home of Scotland, never losing sight of my Papuan cultural heritage.”
Artist Bio
Cathy MacLeod (Nee Street)
Cathy works as a graphic artist and illustrator using traditional art media and digital art technology. She completed her studies in graphic design with CATC Design School Brisbane, Australia before moving to Scotland with her family in 2015.
Born in a small mission village called Veifa’a Mekeo in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea. Cathy’s family relocated to Cairns, Australia in the early ’70s. She was raised with her three brothers and sister immersed in Australian, Papuan and Torres Strait Islander tradition and culture. Cathy married her high school sweetheart Scottish born Rory MacLeod in 1992
Her style is influenced by her Pacific Islander heritage and her husband’s Scottish culture. The repeating shark’s tooth, spear point and basket patterns tie Cathy’s Scottish influenced land and sea works to her heritage. The village life works tell the stories of some of the many Papuan cultural groups and are heavily influenced by the tradition of carved storyboards.
https://www.instagram.com/paperandjamart
https://www.facebook.com/paperandjamART
The Land
My series on the land is inspired by the majestic Scots Pine, native to my adopted country Scotland. I am drawn to the unique landscapes of the ancient Caledonian Forest, so different from my tropical birthplace but no less beautiful and with its own whispering spirits. The scots pine and its companion birch give shelter and sustenance to the forest creatures. Papuans believe that the spirits of our ancestors are carried within the forest animals, perhaps it is the same in Scotland.
Horse of the Forest
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Pine
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Crested Tits in the Rowans
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Wild Boar Amongst the Pine
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Pine Marten in the Pine Forest
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Red Squirrels in the Pines
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Osprey Fishing
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Golden Eagle in the Pines
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Elderberry, Blaeberry & Butterflies
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Birch Trees by the Stream
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
The Water Wolf – (Great Northern Pike)
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Salmon Spawning
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
The Sea
I come from river people from where the Tauri and Lakeakimu Rivers converge. The rivers run to the sea where the worlds of water, land and sky share their spirits. The coasts of Scotland call different creatures with their own songs, but the rhythm is the same. The kelp sways in the tide marking time for the passing of the Sun and Moon. Birds and otters dive for fish in the swirling currents while the eternal cliffs watch on.
Puffins Diving
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Sea Otters
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
Mackerel
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
White-Tailed Sea Eagle Fishing
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 510mm x 435mm Framed Price: £626
My People
My people tell stories through, song, dance, art and ritual. We live among the spirits of our ancestors and mark time by the passage of seasons. Initiation rites prepare young men and women for the duties of adulthood. Village life depends on everyone sharing and contributing, taking only what we need from the river and the forest. There are unknown corners of the Papuan forest where unknown spirits dwell. Each tribe has its own traditions and totems.
Village life 1 – Crocodile Lurking 1
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 630mm x 445mm Framed Price: £707
Village life 2 – Crocodile Canoe
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 630mm x 445mm Framed Price: £707
Village life 3 – Oro Province Sing-sing
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 630mm x 445mm Framed Price: £707
Village life 4 – Asaro Mud Men
Pen and Ink Illustration on Cartridge Paper 300gms 630mm x 445mm Framed Price: £707
Previous exhibitions
The Land , The Sea & My People – Cathy MacLeod
The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary - open 24 hours 4 Sept 2021 – 14 Nov 2021 Artist Statement "Everyone’s life is a journey, with destinations, memories, and relationships along the way. I was born in the village of Veifa’a Mekeo in Papua Niugini. My...
Sayings in the Suttie
The Suttie Arts Space and The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary 5 December 2020 - 28 February 2021 Sayings in the Suttie is an exhibition conceived as a direct response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. As part of the Amplify initiative, the exhibition is focused...
Jean Firth – Turn and Run, The Monkeys Ride
Turn and Run, The Monkeys Ride - by Jean Firth The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary - open 24 hours 8 February - 17 April 2020 Jean Firth is an award-winning artist from the Borders town of Hawick, living and working in Aberdeen. Jean’s work is mostly...
Sounding Boards and Landing Boards
'Sounding Boards and Landing Boards' The Suttie Arts Space and The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary 28 September – 17 November 2019 This year Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT) announced the first of its annual exhibition prize for new...
From Where Do We See? | Curated by Dr Silvia Casini
23rd April - 11th July 2019 The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Retrospective narratives of biomedical innovation tend to omit the role played by aesthetics and craft skills, framing them as peripheral to science and privileging theory creation over practical...
Shakir Maghul | Healing Colours
12th February - 21st April 2019 The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Shakir Maghul’s exhibition explores the idea that colours can have a psychological impact on someone’s attitude. Do they really have an effect on our mood and do they really influence us?...
Kim Rebecca | The Birdwatcher
17th December 2018 - 10th February 2019 Kim Rebecca is a painter based in Glasgow, and studied Contemporary Textile Practice at Norwich University College of the Arts (2006-2009). She is drawn to exploring the green spaces that pepper the city and...
Paolo Doyle | Reclamation
29th October - 16th December Paolo Doyle (b. 1963) is a Scottish artist living and working near Collieston on the north-east coast. HIs work is figurative, imaginative, and aims to engender contemporary narratives while maintaining traditional disciplines of...
Thomas Cameron | Winter Gardens
3rd September - 28th October 2018 Thomas Cameron works with images of the seemingly ordinary, places and situations that are often overlooked due to their familiarity. Working with a wide range of reference materials and subjects, his recent...
Katie Hammond and Alison Gray | INSCAPE
: the essential quality of a creature, thing, or form; it’s distinctive beauty. 9th July - 2nd September 2018 INSCAPE is a collaborative exhibition by recent graduates of Gray’s School of Art, Alison Gray and Katie Hammond. They have come together to...
Eilidh McNair | Alignments
14 May - 8 July 2018 The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Eilidh McNair is a Scottish based artist working across multiple disciplines, including drawing, sculpture and weaving. Her work explores the rules of perspective,...
Gill Russell | Waterlines
19 March - 13 May 2018 The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Gill Russell is an artist interested in places of ‘significance’ and how they resonate in the landscape. She works across a range of forms and media, including installation, audio-visual,...
Louise Montgomery | Icescape
New exhibition in The Small Gallery by Louise Montgomery. 27th November 2017 – 16th March 2018
Andrea Turner | Song of the River
‘Song of the River’, by Andrea Turner, is a love story of the heart and to the land which is set along the River Findhorn in Moray. As well as a series of paintings, poem and music, Andrea Turner has also produced a book which incorporates the images and...
Sally Duguid | Grids, continued…….
The current exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI is 'Grids, continued.......' by Aberdeen artist Sally Duguid. Sally has a studio in the new artist hub Anatomy Rooms based in Marischal college. Her work is concerned with the structure,...
Kyle Noble | Forest Magick
The next exhibition in The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, is ‘Forest Magick’ by North East artist Kyle Noble. Kyle’s practice has a strong drawn element mixing automatic drawing, Chinese landscape aesthetics and layers of varnish. Over the...
Icarus Owen and Douglas Weir | Scotland’s North East Coast
A Photographic Collaboration Photographers Icarus Owen and Douglas Weir have been working in collaboration for the last two years. Through a mutual respect for the coastal landscape they decided in 2016-2017 to focus their efforts on the North East in a...
Mary Golden | Walking the Moor
Walking the Moor Zooming Out – Zooming In Mary Golden Opens Wednesday 1st March, 6.30-8pm The new exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI is by landsape painter Mary Golden. After studying art at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design and...
Sleeping, Dreaming, Waking | Lorna Syme
The new exhibition opens on the 23rd November, 6.30-8pm in The Small Gallery, ARI
Liz Green | In the Woods
New exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Karen Beattie | mindcandy
The next exhibition in The Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, is ‘mindcandy’ by North East based artist Karen Beattie. Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, and sometimes collage, Karen is interested in what it feels like to live amidst the...
Laura Mullen | A Tall Tale
Opening Wednesday 29th June, 6.30-8pm
Ellis O’Connor | Fading Light
The Small Gallery, ARI
Libby Scott | Land Forms
New exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Catherine Smith | Up The Greenbrae Gourdas
The new exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI. Opens Wed 27 January
Fiona McCubbin: Recurving
Fiona McCubbin’s new exhibition in the Small Gallery, ARI
Susanne Lund Pangrazio: Anthropocene
Susanne Lund Pangrazio’s new exhibition in The Small Gallery
Laurence Winram: Shadow
Laurence Winram’s new exhibition in The Small Gallery
Kirsty Aitken: Hidden Depths
Kirsty Aitken’s exhibition in the Small Gallery
Julie-Ann Simpson: Illuminate
Julie-Ann Simpson’s Illuminate in the Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
The Pedestrian: Emma Noble
Emma Noble’s exhibition opens in the Small Gallery, ARI on Tuesday 18th of November 2014.
Classified: Jen Bradley
‘Classified’ by Jen Bradley, in the Small Gallery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, from 18th September to 14th November.
The Condita Series: Katie Ward
Katie Ward exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Formation: Gemma Balfour
Gemma Balfour exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Rise of the Sun: Ade Adesina
Ade Adesina exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Rhona Taylor Typology
Rhona Taylor exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Bryan Angus @ ARI
Bryan Angus Exhibition in The Small Gallery ARI
Deltiology: The Collection and Study of Postcards
GHAT exhibition in the Small Gallery
Nicola McInally: Melodic Memory
Nicola McInally exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Mary Bourne: Remembered Landscapes
Mary Bourne exhibition in The Small Gallery, ARI
Mike Davidson “The Scottish Landscape” Exhibition
3 large scale works of Scottish Landscapes, by photographer Mike Davidson are on exhibition at the Grampian Hospitals Art Trust’s small exhibition space at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Our gallery spaces
Applications
GHAT are looking for submissions for exhibitions for the Small Gallery.
Exhibition Curators
Fraser MacDonald | fraser.macdonald@nhs.net
Tamsin Greenlaw | tamsin.greenlaw@nhs.net
01224 551776
The Suttie Arts Space
Grampian Hospitals At Trust
Foresterhill
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZN