Frances Pelly Thro Lang Mirk till Hairst
Our current exhibition Buss o Gress / Tuft of Grass includes work by Orkney photographer Rebecca Marr and Scottish poet Valerie Gillies, who have spent years looking at grasses, each using their own languages of photography and poetry as an exchange.
In a specially commissioned piece, sculptor Frances Pelly responds to the Irish tradition of St Brigid’s Crosses in her piece Thro Lang Mirk till Hairst
St Brigid’s Crosses, usually woven from rushes pulled on the eve of the 1st of February, were hung in the doorway of Irish homes to protect the household from harm and bless the animals. This turning of the season was marked by Celtic peoples as a festival celebrating the quickening of the year.
Pelly has used the grasses and plants around her home to make a cross for each month of the year since the passing of winter. An act of hope and revival marking the end of winter and the warming of the soil.