By Jodi Harris-Walker

This Island Earth is an exhibition currently being exhibited at the Callendar House Art Gallery in Falkirk by Marianne Greated. Focusing on the environmental impact of manmade structures the artist looks to two sites: a granite quarry in Stubbeløkken on the Danish island of Bornholm where the artists mother is from and the Grangemouth oil refinery located only four miles from the gallery where the work is being exhibited. The artist was inspired by her research into renewable energy and is particularly relevant to those in and around Falkirk due to the very personal relationship with the site, giving the viewer the opportunity for personal contemplation into the environmental impact of the oil refinery.

The large-scale paintings represent contested environments, particularly those shaped by power and excavation. Several works take up entire walls made of multiple 1200 x 1200mm panels. Being confronted with these vast landscapes truly immerses the viewer in Greated’s atmospheric but haunting settings.

Photo ID: Landscape Acrylic painting showing the oil refinery in dark colours comprised of black and blue with a huge smoke cloud above covering the light blue sky around it. The bottom right of the image shows a small amount of bright green grass which is dripping down the board to the bottom of the image.

 “Heavy Sky” shows the Grangemouth Oil Refinery with a huge grey and blue smoke cloud dominates over half of the image obliterating the light blue sky glimpsed and beautiful landscape around it. Particularly interesting are Greated’s thick brush stroked used to create the suffocating smog cloud and the sickly drips creating a melancholic and decaying scene.

Photo ID: Portrait, acrylic painting of an oil refinery captured from below. The background shows streaks of an acidic green-yellow with the building in the front painted in oranges and reds and details in blue toned grey.

 “Refinery with Yellow Sky” shows a closer image of the oil refinery with a sickly yellow sky in streaky, watery looking strokes with a very industrial looking painting of the refinery. Painted using a very warm colour palette of reds and oranges with a small number of greys and blues highlights the degradation and manufactured nature of the subject. The use of the green toned yellow background with the red and oranges against it gives the image very uncomfortable and sickly feeling and creates a feeling of disgust towards the decaying environment.

Photo ID: Landscape acrylic painting of the gas tanks showing a pathway leading to the bottom of the image. The image has a light blue sky which is covered with grey smog at the top of the image. The image has a neon pink highlight.

A painting which resonated with me was the painting entitled “Gas Tanks” which shows a landscape of gas tanks against a smog filled blue sky. The choice of colour in this image was interesting to me as the image has a wash of neon pink over it which makes the image a lot more pleasant to look at compared to the others with the bright colours. The bright colours used across the image were a strong contrast to the grey and blue, smog filled sky which I felt showed the efforts in society to overlook and normalise overconsumption and unethical uses of oil refineries with a disregard towards the environmental impact. Greated used more watered-down streaks of paint in this image which reminds the viewer of the artist behind it and her clear motivation and concerns of the impact of these practises and businesses.

As someone who lives in the area, this exhibition was particularly thought provoking and interesting. Greated’s paintings made me contemplate how we, in this area, and in general, treat our environment and the ethical concerns over the oil refinery. The paintings, while being very impressive in terms of the scale and techniques, created a sense of dread and disgust. Portraying the decline of the environment through landscapes is a clear subversion of the pretty and pleasant landscapes we often see in galleries. Greated’s sends a clear message of sustainable energy and environmentalism and makes this message more impactful by displaying this work right on the doorstep of the site.