Tir Fhearagan is a remote township on the Ross of Mull, cleared in the 1860s. There are four main settlements with other scattered ruins in between. The ruins show so little of the people who used to live there and work the land that I wanted to evoke a sense of the individuals for visitors to the village, to bring a sense of these people back to life. Research was carried out into documents containing details of the tenants, along with traditional gaelic blessings and charms used on a daily basis. Time was also spent exploring the old settlements and the surrounding landscape they would have worked.

The woodcarving is based on a simple wooden ‘seise’ or settle, that the tenants would have most likely used and which was considered the most important seat in the house, engraved with the names of individuals using handwriting of old documents. Around the edge is an old gaelic house blessing. The prints are taken from old parish records of births at the village, surrounded by a gaelic charm of protection. The title ‘na di’chuimhnich’ or ‘do not forget’ comes from the Duke of Argyll’s family motto. The Duke of Argyll was responsible for clearing the townships of the ross of mull for sheep farming.

In spring time the ‘seise’ will be taken to Traigh Ghael under sail, from there it will be carried up to the main settlement area of Tir Fhearagan to be installed into the most substantial ruin. A small ceilidh will be held in the house, and a peat fire will be lit in the hearth for the first time in over a hundred years.

My practice evolves from a form of domestic archaeology and visual archiving, through which the interior and exterior topography of ‘home’ is examined as both an emotive internal object and an external visual object serving to enclose personal and cultural memory. By investigating the interplay between domestic spaces and remembering, the everyday objects around us are re-valued, and the subtle and sublime meaning they hold can be recognised.

Using inherited items, second hand finds, collections of objects and domestic spaces, the idea of ‘home’ as a notion of shelter, safety and belonging is explored; domestic objects, places and rituals, associated superstitions and folklore act as a catalyst for my visual art practice. Consideration of materials, decorative pattern and colour are employed to raise the object or place to a more iconic level, symbolising the individual and cultural relevance within our daily lives and revealing the hidden narrative and enchantment held within.