Christine Morrison. MFA. BA (hons)

2010 - 2012: MFA. Art, Space & Nature, Edinburgh College of Art / University of Edinburgh

2007 - 2010: BA(hons) Intermedia Art, Edinburgh College of Art

2006 - 2007: First Year studies, Edinburgh College of Art

2005 - 2006: Portfolio Course, Bridge House Art, Ullapool

My practice is based on my response to the natural environment, either on land or sea. Primarily I make work from a personal/emotional response to place. I strive to avoid referencing the romantic, idealistic or sublime notion of landscape. Viewing data of natural phenomena facilitates my entry into the landscape. I research data relevant to hours of daylight, wind patterns, times and heights of tides; patterns and rhythms emerge from this information, which in turn, formulate ideas for re-presentation of the ephemeral and the unseen in a visual way.

This re-presentation can be through the medium of painting, sculpture, video, drawing, printmaking, artists books or as a site-specific temporary installation. These installations will often be ephemeral and temporary, with the documentation being the only trace of the work.

Another vital part of my practice is my collaborative work with other artists and exhibition curation. Follow this link to see the work of the collaboration artist Stephen | Morrison

Exhibitions

Nov 2017: 'Grammar of Wavelength'. Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre. Lochmaddy, North Uist.

May 2017:'Grammar of Wavelength'. An Talla Solais Gallery, Ullapool.

May 2016: 'Grammar of Wavelength'. Museum nan Eilean, Special Exhibitions gallery. Isle of Lewis

June 2015: 'Celebration' Ceilidh Place, Ullapool.

May 2015: 'Connections North: Mirror Images' International Print Exhibition 2015. Chrysalis Arts Development, the North York Moors National Park's Inspired by..gallery, Danby, North Yorkshire, Jyvaskyla Art Museum/Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Centre, Jyvaskyla, Finland, Algarden Printmaking Centre, Boras, West Sweden and Highland Print Studio, Scotland.

Feb 2015: 'Towards Infinite Horizons' Schoolhouse Gallery, Rosny Farm, Hobart, Tasmania.

Nov 2013: 'Art in Nature' Macmillan Art Show 2013. Bonhams (Auctioneers) Edinburgh.

Aug – Sept 2013: 'Impact 8' - Print Festival Scotland. Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee

April - May 2013: 'Travelling Light' An Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts Centre, Ullapool, Ross-shire

March 2013: 'Lasting Impressions - Contemporary Printmaking' An Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts Centre, Ullapool, Ross-shire

Nov – Dec 2012: 'Ars Navigare' An Lanntair | Ionad Ealain Arts Centre, Stornoway | Steornabhagh, Isle of Lewis | Eilean Leodhais

June 2012: 'eca Postgraduate Degree Show 2012' Edinburgh College of Art / University of Edinburgh

March 2012: 'Ars Navigare' Pive Toivonen, Andromeda Atlantic Art. Uusikaupunki, Finland

October 2011: 'Threesomes' Tent Gallery, Evolution House, Edinburgh

August 2011: 'Somewhere in Time' Edinburgh Internationsl Art Festival, Tent Gallery, Evolution House, Edinburgh | Stornoway Harbour, Isle of Lewis

May 2011: 'Arboretum' Patriothall Gallery, Stockbridge, Edinburgh

April 2011: 'Retrace' An Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts Centre, Ullapool, Ross-shire. Read a review of this exhibition on Hi-Arts Northings online journal here

January 2011: 'Interlopers' An Lanntair | Ionad Ealain Arts Centre, Stornoway | Steornabhagh, Isle of Lewis | Eilean Leodhais

October 2010: 'Gannets | Na Suilairean' Tent Gallery, Evolution House, Edinburgh College of Art

June - Aug 2010: 'Bestiary' The Gallery, Edinburgh Zoo

June 2010: 'eca Degree Show 2010' Edinburgh College of Art

March 2010: 'Brink' Henderson Gallery, Edinburgh

January 2010: 'Hidden Door: mini festival' Roxy Art House, Edinburgh

January 2010: 'Salon' Embassy Gallery, Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh

April 2009: 'Walk to Revelation' North Corridor, eca. Edinburgh

December 2008: 'eca-ksu' Tent Gallery, Evolution House, Edinburgh

Public art/performance, Curation/Installations, Community Art Projects, Workshops.

October 2020: 'Sunwise' - collaboration with Ian Stephen (storyteller), Mike Vass (musician), Christine Morrison (visual artist). Commission by Scottish International Storytelling Festival - "In The Flow". Online performance.

November 2019: Co Curator - Islander: the paintings of Donald Smith. Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre. Lochmaddy, North Uist.

July 2019: Co Curator - Islander: the paintings of Donald Smith. Exhibition and publication: An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway. Acair Books: Donald Smith: The Paintings of an Islander.

February 2017: Publication - Waypoints; seascapes and stories of Scotland's West Coast. (Adlard Coles Nautical/Bloomsbury) Author: Ian Stephen. Illustrations and front cover: Christine Morrison

May 2016: Scratching the Surface: community art workshop. Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, Rathlin Island.

May 2016: Stephen Morrison; Maritime. Visual storytelling. Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, N.Ireland.

April 2016: Publication - Maritime – new and selected poems (Saraband). Author: Ian Stephen. Photo based illustrations and front cover: Christine Morrison.

March 2016: a circumnavigation - commission by The Village project, Glasgow. Collaboration with Ian Stephen (storyteller) Peter Urpeth ( improvisational pianist) Christine Morrison (visuals) Performance - Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Glasgow.

Voyage Boxed: Voyage: sea journeys, island hopping and transoceanic concepts' - ongoing - Exhibitions and Collections
2016: ÉDITION(S) EXPÉRIMENTALE(S) Collective Blanc. Feb-April: UQO Gallery, Gatineau (Quebec). June: Toronto Art Book Fair. Fall 2016 Montreal (location to be confirmed).
2016: Yale Museum of British Art, USA permanent collection. see link

May 2015: Stephen | Morrison visual storytelling. Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, Rathlin Island, N.Ireland.

March 2015: StAnza Poetry Festival, Byre Theatre. St Andrews. Projected Visual Poems and short artists films. Stephen|Morrison

Voyage Boxed: Voyage: sea journeys, island hopping and transoceanic concepts' - ongoing - Exhibitions and Collections
2015: Book Art conference in Cardiff University. Private collector.
2015: Kaleid London 2015 exhibition & book fair. 
2015: University of Edinburgh Library, Artists book permanent collection.

Feb 2015: 'Between Sitting and Standing' Bruny Island, Tasmania. Installation as part of Another Hemisphere project.

Feb 2015: 'Another Hemisphere': Stephen| Morrison performance - visual storytelling. Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Hobart, Tasmania.

Oct 2014: Book launch - Western Isles Folk Tales. (History Press 2014) Written by Ian Stephen. Illustrations by Christine Morrison. Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh.

Voyage Boxed: Voyage: sea journeys, island hopping and transoceanic concepts' - ongoing - Exhibitions and Collections
2014: Oct: Tankerness House Museum Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. June - Aug: MICROMEGAS > POWERS OF TEN, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney. June-July: The Library, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. April-June: Bergen offentlig bibliotek: Turn the Page, book art fair and exhibition, Norwich, UK

October 2014: 'Voyage - mapping a way through stories and poems' Settle Storytelling Festival, Settle, Yorkshire - opening night performance. Collaboration with Ian Stephen (poet/storyteller) Kirsty Law (singer/songwriter) Giles Perring (sound artist) Christine Morrison (visual artist)

October 2014: 'Festival Ecosse' Grasse, Provence, France. Storytelling / Visuals- Western Isles Folk Tales. Visualising the Story - Drawing workshops in conjunction with storyteller, Ian Stephen.

May 2014: 'Voyage - mapping a way through stories and poems' Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival. Ballycastle/Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland. Collaboration with Ian Stephen (poet/storyteller) Kirsty Law (singer/songwriter) Ken Linklater (musician) Christine Morrison (visual artist)

April 2014: 'Moon Tree' Stone Berry Plain, Saskatoon, Canada. Installation as part of New Territories project

April 2014: 'New Territories'. Invited to travel to Canada with Poet Ian Stephen as part of the 'Commonwealth Poets United' project with the Scottish Poetry Library. New territories project was assisted through a Professional Development Grant funded by Creative Scotland.

Feb 2014: 'Voyage Boxed: sea journeys, island hopping and trans-oceanic concepts' 2014 – international artists' book project curated Imi Maufe (ongoing, touring project)

October 2013: 'Voyage - mapping a way through stories and poems' Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Edinburgh - opening night performance. Collaboration with Ian Stephen (poet/storyteller) Kirsty Law (singer/songwriter) Giles Perring (sound artist) Christine Morrison (visual artist)

Sept 2013: 'Fulmar' Visual poem projection, Wordplay, Mareel, Lerwick, Shetland.

May 2013: 'Sail Away' Sailing/storytelling/drawing workshops on board sgoth Jubilee, 1935 traditional Lewis boat. Part of Travelling Light outreach programme of events. An Talla Solais, Ullapool Visual Arts.read more

May 2013: 'Arrivals | Departures' Archive and contemporary film night, Calmac terminal building, Ullapool harbour, Ullapool, Ross-shire

August 2012: 'Act of Trust' HUG (action for mental health) Drawing Response workshop. Loch Ness Barge, Muirton Basin, Inverness. In conjunction with storyteller/poet/writer Ian Stephen

April 2012: 'Tip of the Tongue' festival, Jura, Argyll – Artist's films

March - April 2012: 'Act of Trust' Sgoil Lacasdail, Sgoil Lionacleit, Sgoil an Iochdair, Sgoil An-T-Oib, Sgoil Sheliboist. Western Isles Schools Drawing Response workshops in conjunction with Western Isles Libraries Reader in Residence; Ian Stephen

March 2012: 'World Book Day' All year groups, Laxdale Primary School, Laxdale, Isle of Lewis. Experimental Drawing workshops in conjunction with Western Isles Libraries Reader in Residence; Ian Stephen

October 2011 - January 2012: 'Colours of the Landscape' Photography and colour identification workshops. All year groups, Nicolson Institute, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. On behalf of Public Art Project, Western Isles Schools Project lead artist; Donald Urquhart

September 2011: 'Festival Ecosse' Grasse, Provence, France. Drawing workshops in conjunction with storyteller, Ian Stephen.

July 2011: 'Ars Navigare' Island working - artist exchange with Finnish Island artists. Click here for further information on the Ars navigare project with artist Pive Toivonen

April 2011: 'Sea No More' Ullapool harbour beach as part of Retrace exhibition.

Jan 2010: 'Winter Chess Set' River Spey, Boat of Garten, Inverness-shire.

September - December 2007:' Off the Wall' Boat of Garten Community Hall. A series of three workshops incorporating Photography, Sculpture and Painting resulting in a piece of publicly made art for the new community hall in Boat of Garten, Inverness-shire.

Awards

2015: Professional Development award Creative Scotland (Stephen | Morrison) - Another Hemisphere: Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Hobart and Bruny Island Residency, Tasmania.

2014: Professional Development award. Creative Scotland - New Territories project; Toronto, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Montreal, Canada.

2012: Visual Artist/Craft-maker Award. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in partnership with Creative Scotland - Character of Water project.

Reviews

"Christine Morrison's drawings echo the simplicity and honesty of Stephen's writing" Robin Westcott, RNLI Spring edition book review: Waypoints - seascapes and stories of Scotland's west coast. Adlard Coles Nautical/Bloomsbury. 2017.

Christine Morrison, who lives on the Isle of Lewis, has contributed a fusion of mathematics and science with art. Her double diagram will at first seem incomprehensible until you realise it is a graphic depiction of daylight over a year. Her piece also features data, in linear from, that gives a comparrison between latitudes 58 degrees north and 42 degrees south"
Beyond Infinite Horizons. Rosny Barn, Hobart, Tasmania. TAZ weekend supplement, 15/02/2015.

"This was truly an incredible journey bringing storytelling into the 21st century with style, mixing traditional tales and techniques with modern technology to great effect. Pivotal to the experience are the incredible images of Christine Morrison which are projected as a backdrop for the performers but are in themselves integral to the whole feel of the performance as they capture the varying moods of the central character in all the tales: the sea."
VOYAGE: Mapping a way through stories and poems. Editor review, Settle Stories Review (settle.org.uk) 12/10/2014.

Tony Crossland's Voyage review in images

"Voyage is a superbly crafted storytelling experience in which narrative, song, music and evocative visuals all combine to draw us into the storytelling magic…. the perfect launch for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2013"
Donald Smith, Festival Director

"Christine Morrison's collaboration with Ian Stephen and school pupils of the Western Isles, Acts of Trust, won the multi arts category in the first British Awards for Storytelling Excellence, 2012: The work produced is graced with an apparent simplicity and a deep sophistication. It also has integrity and reflects the context from which it arose, including the culture from which the stories grew and the communities grew."
Acts of Trust (Artist's book). Donald Anderson, Shetland Arts

"Christine Morrison is also influenced by the environment and by the particularity of place. She presents two visualisations of data about the natural world: a demonstration of the high tide marks over a week – '7 days:13 tides', the levels of which are represented by pieces of driftwood, suspended at appropriate heights; and a wall-graphic showing varying day length over the 52 Sundays of a year. Both are specific to Ullapool and are novel ways of seeing the rhythms of nature. My favourite piece of the show was displayed only at the launch, down at Ullapool harbour, where, after dark, a rowing dinghy floated in a water-filled boat that will never go to sea again. At its prow, a video played of a journey out into open sea. The little boat bobbed in reality and on film, to a soundtrack of spray and creaking timbers, as if remembering an earlier voyage."
Retrace. An Talla Solais, Ullapool. Mandy Haggith, Northings. 18/04/2011

Current and Forthcoming projects

March 2021: Sunwise: online performance with Ian Stephen (storyteller), Mike Vass (musician) and Christine Morrison (visuals). Toronto Storytelling Festival. Canada.

May 2021:Islander: The Paintings of Donald Smith. City Arts Centre, Edinburgh. Curatorial coordinator for travelling exhibiton from An Lanntair, Stornoway to Edinburgh.

May 2021: Sunwise: collaboration performance with Ian Stephen, Mike Vass and Christine Morrison. Ullapool Book Festival.