MAIRI NICGILLIOSA

Visual artist, Neach-ealain

Welcome to the website for Mairi Gillies, a Scottish visual artist whose work spans between the studio, classroom, exhibition spaces and the living landscape.

Is mise Màiri NicGillÌosa. Tha mi nam neach-ealain agus 's e bana-Ghàidheal na Galltachd a th' annam. Tha dàimh làidir agam ris a' Ghàidhealtachd agus tha mi a' fuireachd ann an Leòdhas.

I am Mairi Gillies. I am an artist and a Gaelic woman from the Lowlands of Scotland. I have strong sense of home in the Gaeltachd and I currently live on the Isle of Lewis.

dàmhair /daːvirʲ/
boir. iol. -ean
1 rut 2 rutting time

Dwelly's "dàmhair"
-ean, sf Rutting of deer. 2 Rutting-time. 3 The month of October [preceded by the art. an]. 4** Noise. 5(CR) Time — about Inverness & W. of Ross-shire. Mun dàmhair seo an-dé, about this time yesterday; facal an dàmhair, a word in season. 6‡‡ Earnestness, keenness, 7 Rutting riot - Dàin Iain Ghobha. 8 Cry of a deer - R. 84. Bhuail thuca an dàmhair, the noise came suddenly upon them; an dàmhair a’ mheadhan oidhche, in the dead of night. 8 Middle. An dàmhair a’ chuain, in the middle of the ocean

Fencing/moving/autumn/rutting

Corran and Seumas walked over Cleite Chàirisisadair to a neighbours croft for a bite of fresh grass. Put up electric fencing (so Seumas doesn't trash the fences!) to the sound of the rutting stags...
#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #waysofseeing #sitespecific

ràith an fhoghair
(the) autumn season

Recent images.
Low sun, folding maquette, still laying, brothers visit, feannagan, mushrooms, bramble pie, walks, drams, beaches, wooly jumpers, creeling, boats brought in for the end of the season. #gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #waysofseeing #sitespecific #lèirsinn #scottishart

foras /fɔrəs/
fir. gin. -ais, iol. -an
1 information, knowledge 2 inquiry

Hands play grow tacit knowing through tools, place nourishment and work

I've felt very moved by the passing of Manchàn this week, reminded of the dear ones I've known as friends and tradition bearers who have gone.
We carry in us the ways of seeing and knowing they taught us.

If Gàidhlig culture is 'the carrying steam' then they were the gems in the river.

#creativepractice #gàidhlig #traditionbearers #placebased #waysofseeing #lèirsinn

sgàth-fhras
boir. gin. -fhroise, iol. -an
passing/short shower

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #waysofseeing #sitespecific #lèirsinn #walkingartist

Orasaigh
Giearol
Loch na Mnà
Màs Cruinn
Tòb Stìomrabhaigh
Stìomrabhaigh
Loch Shaghachain

#gàidhlig #placebased #eileanleòdhais #isleoflewis #walkingarist #gaelic #waysofseeing #lèirsinn

imrich /imirʲɪç/
boir. gin. -e, iol. -ean
1 (act of) migrating 2 migration 2 (act of) flitting, moving house, removal 3 effects (i.e. object moved in flitting, esp. for moving to a shieling)

Shots from my temporary studio set up.
Cobbles ready for carving

✨Exciting new studio ✨ being dreamt up, stay tuned for more on that...

#gàidhlig #gaelic #placebased #studio #wip #artiststudio

Cnoc Àirigh na Beinne, Quinnag

#walkingartist #waysofseeing #september #gàidhlig #gaelic

Gifts from the croft:
Eriskay ponies
Geese
Gannet
Heron
Scabious
Clinker

#placebased #crofting #nature #september

Briseadh an latha
Daybreak, dawn

#gàidhlig #viewfrommywindow #dawn #gaelic #waysofseeing #motherartist

tlàthas /tLaː.əs/
fir. gin. -ais
1 mildness, balminess, mellowness 2 gentleness 3 smoothness 4 tenderness, delicateness 5 kindness

Pollen and peat on my feet today.

First day of the boys being back at school and I gifted myself a 'breaker day'.
A day to wander and wonder, contemplate, let life sink in kindly.
The hillside gifted me warm, honey scented air, butterflies, dragonflies, a river of purple flowers. And a tic!

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #motherartist #scottishart #tlusmhorachd #selfcare

samhradh breac stiallach
a warm, sunny summer with regular rain

Last week of the holidays...

#gàidhlig #motherartist #placebased #sitespecific #waysofseeing

Went to check on the ponies and accidentally found myself on a dance with the hill

#gàidhlig #placebased #lèirsinn ##waysofseeing #sitespecific #motherartist

gràinneanach /graːNənəx/
bua. coi. -aiche
1 pertaining to grains 2 grainy, granular

#g�àidhlig #gaelic #placebased #sitespecific #lèirsinn

rùisgeadh /Ruːʃgʲəɣ/
fir. gin. -gidh
1 (act of) peeling 2 (act of) shearing

#gàidhlig #gaelic #waysofseeing #placebased #sitespecific #motherartist

làithean-saora! Holiday to the other islands,
Starting and finishing at home.
Chambered cairns, bikes, swimming in the sea, camping, teas, good grub, old Mills, pìobaireachd, cupan tì, and friends friends friends... A special trip to Èirisgeigh to wear my new geansaidh made by @floraidhforrest, with help from her amazing auntie Màiri Flòraidh (obligatory photo of the Màiri/Màiri Flòraidh/Flòraidh sandwich!!).

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #outerhebrides

cnuasachadh /krũə̃səxəɣ/
fir. gin. -aidh, iol. -aidhean
1 (act of) pondering, ruminating 2 rumination 3 (act of) reflecting 4 reflection 5 (act of) studying

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #lèirsinn

Tachraidh na daoine is cha tachair na cnuic

Friends may meet but mountains never greet

#gàidhlig #gaelic #placebased #waysofseeing

dreachdadh /drɛxgəɣ/
fir. gin. -aidh, iol. -aidhean
1 (act of) drafting 2 (act of) outlining a peat bank/hag

#gàidhlig #gaelic #placebased #lèirsinn #waysofseeing #walkingartist

slighe coise
journey on foot

#gàidhlig #lèirsinn #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #walkingartist

Bhon mhuir

Sunset
Fishing
Moonrise

#placebased #gàidhlig #gaelic #waysofseeing

I am wind

On my walk yesterday the wind blow so hard to went up both nostrils and blew in a circle out my mouth. I've never had that happen before!!

Points of view series
#pointsofview #gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #scottishart #motherartist

rùrachadh /Ruːrəxəɣ/
fir. gin. -aidh, iol. -aidhean
1 (act of) searching, rummaging 2 search 3 (act of) exploring 4 exploration 5 (act of) groping

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #motherartist

latha leth an t-samhraidh
midsummer’s day 0036hrs

#gàidhlig #gaelic #placebased #sitespecific #scottishart #motherartist #creativepractice

Dùn air Loch Mòr, idir Cleite Dhòmhnuill, Druim Uamasbroc agus Sìdhean Mòr

#motherartist
#gàidhlig #gaelic #visituig #placebased #creativepractice #waysofseeing #walkingartist

canach-choitcheann
boir. gin. -aich-coitchinne
common cottongrass/cottonsedge/bog cotton (eriophorum angustifolium)

#gàidhlig #gaelic #placebased #sitespecific #visituig #waysofseeing #walkingartist

'And have you no music, no singing, no dancing now at your marriages?’

‘May the Possessor keep you! I see that you are a stranger in Lewis, or you would not ask such a question' the woman exclaimed 'we abandoned those foolish ways in Ness, and, indeed throughout Lewis.
In my young days there was hardly a house in Ness in which there was not one or two or three who could play the pipe, or the fiddle, or the trump.
And I have heard it said that there were men, and women too, who could play things called harps, lyres, and bellow-pipes, but I do not know what those things were...’

‘and why were those discontinued?’

‘A blessed change came over the place and
the people,’ the woman replied in earnestness, ‘and the good men and the good ministers who arose did away with the songs and the stories, the music and the dancing, the sports and the games that were perverting the minds and ruining the souls of the people, leading them to folly and stumbling.’

‘But how did the people themselves come to
discard their sports and pastimes?’

‘Oh, the good minister and the good elders preached against them and went among the people, and besought them to forsake their follies and to return to wisdom. They made the people break and burn their pipes and fiddles. If there was a foolish man here and there who demurred, the good minsters and the good elders themselves broke and burned
their instruments, saying:-

“is fear an teine beag a gharas la beag no sithe, Na’n teine mor a loisgeas la mor na feirge.”
“Better is the small fire that warms on the little day of peace, than the big fire that burns on the great day
of wrath.’”

A. Carmina Gadelica,
Vol. I & Il Hymns and Incantations.

(Bullrushes, salt)
#gàidhlig #waysofseeing #gaelic #lèirsinn #uaimanòir

Uaim an Òir
Seam of Gold

When people are dislocated or separated from their land, language and culture, they grow further away from the resources that formed them.
The Uamh an Òir (Cave of Gold) is an ancient story found across the Gaidhealtachd about individuals who tried to reconnect, or keep connected to their traditions, through a piece of music and the defiant act of producing music in times of hardship and suppression.
This sound and sculpture installation revives this story and is a meditation on how we are born and shaped by the landscapes we are rooted to, the places and spaces we inhabit, and the history and culture embedded in these.

@anlanntair 24 MAY - 5 JULY

#gàidhlig #lèirsinn #waysofseeing #gaelic #scottishart #sitespecific #soundart #sculpture #motherartist

Installation shots of Uaim an Òir (Seam of Gold) exhibition.

Showing at @anlanntair until July 5th.

#uaimanòir #lèirsinn #gaelic
#gàidhlig #waysofseeing #sitespecific

Cuilc /kulçgʲ/
boir. gin. -e, iol. -ean
1 reed, bulrush 2 cane

Exploring the relationship between Pipes, Place, People and Plants. Stemming from the research of @decker_forrest 'dresser chanters' were made using locally growing plants to practice on across the Gàidhealtachd.

#uaimanòir #gàidhlig #gaelic #waysofseeing #workinprogress

Dathan gu leòr

Colours being layered up... Laughing at myself when I turned up to the workshop with a matching outfit to my sculptures!

#gàidhlig #gaelic #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #sculpture #scottishart #workinprogress

Human hefting to a new place, a morning run.

Sweet, honeyed spotted scent of bog orchid.

Bobbing canach, taste of salt sweat, grouse starting up, a self introduction by way of a dance with a new cairn, sparkling sedge view, breast feather of a sea eagle, we become wind borne again.

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #lèirsinn #waysofseeing #scottishart

òrdag /ɔːRdag/
boir. gin. -aige, iol. -an
1 thumb 2 big toe

#gàidhlig #gaelic #lèirsinn #waysofseeing #placebased

Shared veins and a rubbing stone used by the deer

#stoneportrait #gàidhlig #waysofseeing #lèirsinn

àirigh /aːrʲɪ/
boir. gin. -e, iol. -ean
1 hill pasture 2 bothy, sheiling, pastoral summer residence 2 sheiling (knitting pattern)

#gàidhlig #gaelic #waysofseeing

faileas /faləs/
fir. gin. -eis, iol. -an
1 reflection 2 shadow 3 phantom 4 lightning

#gàidhlig #gaelic #lèirsinn #waysofseeing #ealainaite #placebased

ion-thubaist /in hubaʃdʲ/
boir. gin. -e, iol. -ean
near accident/disaster/miss

#gàidhlig #gaelic

lom /Lɔum ~ Luimə/
bua. coi. luime
1 bare, naked, nude 2 bleak 3 plain, unadorned 4 defenceless 5 destitute 6 gaunt, meagre 7 threadbare 8 leafless 9 net

#gàidhlig #gaelic #scottishart #sitespecific #workinprogress #uaimanòir

Bho dhùsgadh na maidne moich, from the awakening of early dawn

Place embodied
Place embedded
Place imbued

#gàidhlig #placebased #sitespecific #embodied #embedded #imbued #gaelic #waysofseeing #lèirsinn

casruisgte /kasruʃdʲə/
bua. neo-ath.
1 barefoot(ed) 2 barelegged

Heel to heal

Sole to soul

Connecting where you want to go with how to carry your body there from the horizon line to the micro spidery details...

#gàidhlig #waysofseeing #placebased #sitespecific #scottishart

An uaimh mu dheireadh, Barraigh

The last cave, Barra

With intrepid helpers @floraidhforrest @decker_forrest and their wonderful crew Seonaidh, Nuie and Mìcheal (and of course Bessie bheag!)
Not to mention my @otterbunkhouse

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #uamhanòir #uaimanòir

iomad /iməd/
fir. gin. -aid, iol. -an
1 abundance 2 multiple 3 much 3 many, numerous

Casting is underway for the Uaim an Òir installation

#multiples #casting #scottishart #sculpture #gàidhlig #waysofseeing

Saillte
saiLʲdʲə/
bua. neo-ath.
1 salted 2 salty

Seawater, salt and carbon explorations for #uaimanòir installation

Uamh an Òir eile... A' cumail orm le Uaim an Òir

Another Cave of Gold... Keeping on with the Seam of Gold

This time near Gairloch, looking to Skye.

More sound recordings taken, playing voices of the people back to the place, more cave wall casts taken, maybe catching fragments of the piping still reverberating in the echos of the stone.

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #scottishart #uamhanòir #uaimanòir

bun-stuth
fir. gin. -a, iol. -an
1 raw material(s) 2 essence

#gàidhlig #gaelic #uaimanòir #uamhanòir #sitespecific #lèirsinn #scottishart

When researching OS placenames across Scotland with the word 'Òir' I found 'Cnoic an Òir' which remarkably was in Pabaigh Mòr, an island on our doorstep in Uig, Lewis.
I wondered why it would be called the 'Hill of Gold', maybe a treasure trove? Must be a story behind it I thought, but when we got there the geodha was golden with lichen.
Incredible sights and sounds with @otterbunkhouse at the helm, on the ropes and behind the camera.

#placebased #gàidhlig #uamhanòir #uaimanòir #sitespecific #waysofseeing #lèirsinn #gaelic

Idir Mula Mac Sgiathain agus Bruinneabhal lorgaidh sibh na h-ollagan seo

#gàidhlig #gaelic #glacialirratic #placebased #sitespecific #scottishart #waysofseeing #walkingartist

Uaim an Òir
Seam of Gold

#uaimanoir #gàidhlig #gaelic #uamhanòir #caveofgold

Uamh an Òir ~ Uaim an Òir

Cave of Gold ~ Seam of Gold

Filled with inspiration and grateful to the hilt- our second cave in Skye with the incredible @decker_forrest playing and @floraidhforrest leading us, @otterbunkhouse behind the camera

What muse draws us on?
Who played here before?
What sounds play on?
A dram shared to the MacCrimmon's and we left in tact.

#gàidhlig #placebased #uaimanòir #uamhanòir #sitespecific #waysofseeing #gaelic #lèirsinn #workinprogress #scottishart #gaelicvisualarts

Uamh an Òir ~ Uaim an Òir

Cave of Gold ~ Seam of Gold

I had the most powerful and moving time researching the first of the caves of gold last weekend in Skye.
Intrepid friends @floraidhforrest @decker_forrest led the way, and as ever, at the other end of my rope was @otterbunkhouse!

I gathered casts, sounds and place based materials to bring back to the studio.

Researching relationships between place, people, pipes and plants

For my exhibition Uaim an Òir at @anlanntair
Funded by VACMA grant @creativescots

#gàidhlig #placebased #gaelic #sitespecific #waysofseeing #scottishart #gaelicwaysofseeing #lèirsinn #uamhanòir

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

@mairi_nicgilliosa

MAIRI NICGILLIOSA

​

Exploring a sense of place