'Cherub' by Kirsten Shanks

The exhibition, Cherub, is by our spring artist-in-residence, Kirstin Shanks who has been making work both in our residency space as well as at home over the last few months. Shanks, graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2019 and was the recipient of the RSA John Kinross Scholarship.

Kirsten Shanks' works are primarily concerned with using drawing mediums; watercolour, gouache, charcoal and pencil on a mixture of scales. Each piece is layered with blocked or blended colour which are then filled with drawn cherubs or statues, and then surrounded by occasionally overwhelmed skylines. This combination allows the viewer to build their own narrative, outside of her own personal ideas for the work.

Forgotten cherubs is a romantic notion that pleas with a cultural idea that our land is a quaint and peaceful place. Reimagining these cherubs and figures within the context of our current climate aims to make light of a cultural weak spot. Within the boundaries of the canvas, their fate becomes mildly catastrophised and their reimagined existence is tainted when the reality of today's future sets in.