In autumn 2013, we partnered with Edinburgh Printmakers and their Studio Director, Alastair Clark to nominate some of the UK’s best printmakers. Gill Tyson was selected from their shortlist of artists.
Gill studied at Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh University, receiving an MA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1979. Her main practice is in lithography, concentrating on the richness of expressive marks within this medium. She develops her prints by building up layers of colour to create a depth and intensity in deceptively simple and distilled imagery. Her work has been likened to “painting in slow motion”.
Gill says “I like remote environments. I seek out human markers in the landscape: a circus poster on a telegraph pole by the Arctic Sea, a kilometre marker in the Namib Desert. It’s The End Of The Road was a series of images looking at places where the road runs out; a pier collapsed into the sea, an abandoned signal station in Donegal. My last exhibition Shelter focussed on different sources of shelter, from a castle to a telephone box, including recent work from the Outer Hebrides and St Kilda. I think that implicit in my subject matter is our desire at times to withdraw and retreat from the world whilst still needing the companionship and support of human communion.”
Her recent exhibitions include the Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh Printmakers, The Red Barn and Printroom. In 2012 she was one of the artists representing Britain in The International Print Exhibition in Kyoto, Japan.
Gill has recently completed residencies in Ireland and Wales. In 2008 she received a Visual Arts Award from the Hope Scott Trust and in 2009 a Visual Arts Award from The City of Edinburgh and Scottish Arts Council.
Her work is held in public collections including; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Art in Healthcare, Ritchie Collection, University of Dundee, Fife Council, Readers Digest, Smithsonian Institution, Mobil Oil, Royal Bank of Scotland, Melon Financial Corporation George Watson’s College, Parliamentary Art Collection-House Of Lords.