RHYS FULLERTON REVIEWS
Edinburgh-based artist Trina Bohan has exhibited all around the globe, from here in the UK, to the USA, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Originally from New Zealand, where she studied in Christchurch and gained a diploma in Graphic Design, Bohan is this month unleashing her brooding and moody paintings on the Arusha Gallery, Dundas Street.
Bohan captures the landscapes of the Hebrides and Loch Ness in a very dramatic way. Occasionally the horizons are exact, like a straight line right through the painting. Perhaps this is partly due to the influence of her graphic design past.
Each work has its own distinctly bright and beautiful colour scheme. ‘Loch Ness Skylines’ is yellow, 'Loch Naver' (above) is red, ‘Alves’ (below) is blue. In the latter two, the colours are being absorbed and consumed by the darkness.
In ‘Loch Ness’ (below), my favourite of those on display, there is a light that is shining through the gloom and fighting back the darkness. This is a truly striking painting.
If you get close up to the paintings (not too close, though) it’s as if you are there, facing down the landscape. The scale of these paintings really does justice to the epic horizons that Bohan depicts.
Another of my favourites is ‘Loch Ness Skyline’ (below). There is nothing to see in this abstract except for a sea of yellows. I wondered what weather phenomenon occurred to consume the Loch Ness skyline in this way, but I wish I’d seen it for myself.
Also on display are a series of figurative drawings, which are very different from her landscape paintings but equally impressive.
If you want to immerse yourself in Scotland’s dramatic landscapes from the comfort of hot and humid Edinburgh, then this exhibition is for you.
I thoroughly recommend it.
Trina Bohan: Timelines continues at the Arusha Gallery (13A Dundas Street) until 31 July. Admission free.