An Unappropriated World - Recent paintings by Sylvia Hays at Orkney Museum

“An Unappropriated World”

Recent Paintings by Sylvia Hays

The Orkney Museum 6th – 27th November

This Saturday 6 November, sees the opening of a new exhibition at The Orkney Museum, Kirkwall.

“An Unappropriated World”, Recent Paintings by Sylvia Hays is a stunning collection of paintings, fed by the Orkney landscape in all its moods. The titles of this exhibition is a quote, as the artist, Sylvia Hays explains.

“I lifted the phrase from a magnificent book ‘The Hudson River and its Painters’ some years ago, copied it onto a strip of paper and taped it to the shelf above my desk where it joined another favourite quote: “. . . the modest greatness of ordinary people” - Pushkin writing on Gogol’s The Captain’s Daughter. The quotations stayed there until the tape dried out. I was prompted to post the second quote by an instinctive love for the idea. Only much later, when I needed an exhibition title, did I begin to ask myself what it could possibly mean. Is there such a place? Is there any part of the world that has not been appropriated already?

"Unlike certain of the Hudson River painters (Moran, Bierstadt) I am not aiming for the conventions of the picturesque or the symbolic but to share my own response to the natural world with anyone willing to regard it. I don’t like to be reminded that I am American though I was born there in 1938. I identify with Scotland and with my home in Orkney which constantly feed my painting. Yet there is still the reach, like a stretched umbilical cord, of forces that shape my work: an attitude to scale, space and the myth of wilderness even to be apprehended in an ancient, settled land such as this.”

This exhibition was postponed from last year, as Engagement and Exhibitions Officer, Tom Muir, explains.

“This exhibition was due to be shown in April 2020, but obviously that was not possible due to lockdown. We are delighted to welcome Sylvia back to the Orkney Museum and look forward to seeing these paintings up on the wall.”

The Orkney Museum is open Mon-Sat, 10am - 12pm and 2pm - 5pm and entrance is free.