Rachel Ross: Recollection

An exhibition of new paintings by Edinburgh-based artist Rachel Ross, Recollection is a series of compositions encapsulating thoughts and memories, suggested by the placement and intrinsic beauty of seemingly mundane objects.

'It is a human instinct to accumulate possessions. They travel through life with us. Whether treasured keepsake or merely incidental, these are the tangible fragments that give shape and meaning to our memories.

At the heart of my work, I am trying to bring some order to the tangle of recollections and emotions that crowd the inner life and connect us all. Paintings of ordinary items offer a narrative, through dents, scuffs and marks of wear. They resonate with personal memories and allow for an imaginative leap into the lives of others.

The realism I strive for is important. I come to understand my subject through careful study of its distinctive shape, texture and colour. Deliberate consideration of composition too, is key. The careful, placing and ordering of my subjects elevates a simple study to a more sophisticated contemplation of deep emotions we all share.'

Rachel Ross graduated from Central St Martins School of Art, London in the 1980s and worked for twenty years as an illustrator. Since 2007 she has pursued a career in painting. Her work is held in collections internationally and she exhibit regularly throughout the UK and Europe and her work has been shown in several major open exhibitions including The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) and the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts (RGI).

In 2010 she was winner of the Art Exposure Gallery Award at the RGI and in 2012 her work was selected for The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition at the Mall Galleries, London, and she was a runner up for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize. She was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition in 2017.