Alasdair Wallace is primarily a painter who has had an ongoing interest in printmaking for many years. He has editioned screenprints with Glasgow Print Studio and explored mono printing as well as the possibilities of using print and paint together. The works in this show are etchings, a medium he began to use over 20 years ago while working in collaboration with Stuart Duffin - one of Glasgow Print Studio’s Master Printmakers.
“Making the side step from painting to printmaking provides an alternative approach to imagery and allows me to look at things in a surprisingly different way. I try not to be over precious in my work (please excuse the fingerprints!) and I like to allow for caprice and for the discovery of things as I go along. The processes of etching are replete with opportunities for the ‘happy accident’ but I aim to achieve a proper feeling of affinity with the medium and for that to be the guide.
Some of the imagery in these recent etchings is based on previously completed paintings. But they are not just versions of the paintings. The graphic quality of an etched line or the tone and colour achieved by layering multiple etching plates evokes new associations for imagery which is always deliberately ambiguous and open to interpretation.
Other etchings are born from ideas suggested by the possibilities of the process. In particular, the ‘ripple’ images where these digitally drawn motifs are created with the use of photo-etching, resulting in a distinctive graphic shape which is resistant to the fluid mark-making of ‘Spit Bite’ (the painting of strong acid directly onto a prepared etching plate).
The processes of etching can be labour intensive and infuriatingly time consuming. I have a love/hate relationship with the medium. But I always come back to printmaking, so I suppose love wins in the end!”
Alasdair Wallace Born Glasgow 1967
1987 – 1991 Glasgow School of Art, BA Hons Fine Art
Solo Exhibitions
2020 Settlements - Linlithgow Burgh Halls
2019 Orbiteering – Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay
2019 Oscillate Vacillate Orbit & Revolve - Glasgow Print Studio
2018 Incidences - Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2016 Ache The Good Ache - Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
2015 Two Hundred And Thirty Volts - Glasgow Print Studio
2014 Rare Vagrants And Accidentals - Rebecca Hossack Gallery, NYC
2014 Talking Tree - Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
2010 New and recent work - Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 ‘Un-Mute’ – Society of Scottish Artists, Dunoon Burgh Hall
2021 LOWLANDS, Lowlands Artists Collective, Oxford House, Glasgow
2019 Royal Academy Summer Show, London
2018 Littlejohn Award Exhibit - Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2017 INK. Curated by AHM, Glasgow Print Studio
2015 The Art Of Scotland’s Political Reawakening - North Kelvin College
2011 The Ghosts Of Gone Birds - Rochelle School, London
2010 ‘The River Runs Through It’ - Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow
Awards
2018 John Gray Award - RSW Edinburgh
2018 W Gordon Smith Award - SSA Edinburgh
2017 William Littlejohn Award - Royal Scottish Academy
2016 City Of Glasgow College Award - RGI Glasgow
2015 The Walter Scott Award - RSW Edinburgh
2005 Armour Award - Royal Glasgow Institute
2001 Noble Grossart Painting Prize
Collections
City Of Glasgow College. Walter Scott And Partners Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation
Cromarty Arts Trust The Royal Scottish Academy North Lanarkshire Council
Grampian Hospitals Art Trust Glasgow Museums & Galleries