Kerry MacAskill

My artistic practice is rooted in the natural world and shaped by my upbringing in the rural Highlands. I work with materials to explore ecological relationships, personal geography, and the quiet connections between species. Much of this begins with a longing for my garden at home, a place of growth and familiarity that continues to anchor me as I move through other landscapes.

Living and working in Glasgow sharpens this pull. The city’s noise and pace contrast with the slow, attentive rhythms of the Highlands, making the garden feel both distant and essential. It becomes a guide I carry with me, reminding me of the steady, reciprocal relationship with nature that I try to maintain in an urban environment.

This exhibition grows from materials gathered at home and carried across distance. The boxes act as portable habitats, holding textures, atmospheres, and ecological traces that deepen my connection to the places that shaped me.

My days in the Highlands are made up of slow walks through the garden. Gathering lichens and fragments from the garden becomes a way of collecting memories, showing traces of home that travel with me. The work becomes a moving archive of the garden’s abundance.

The pieces reflect the feelings I associate with that place: contentment, quiet joy, and the pleasure of noticing small details in a world shaped by both human hands and natural processes. The boxes hold this world gently, offering glimpses of fragile, intricate environments we often overlook.

Through this work, I invite viewers to slow down and notice layers, surfaces, and subtle shifts. In a culture driven by convenience and constant digital noise, these moving boxes create moments of reconnection that create a pause, a breath, and a renewed sense of discovery. I hope this invites a deeper awareness of the delicate ecologies we carry with us, from place to place.