Repeat Pattern
Borland was born and raised in Darvel, East Ayrshire and together with ongoing concerns relating to life, death, renewal, and the cyclical phases of existence, has used the history of the area's industrial heritage as an impetus for much of her work.
Borland's oeuvre has grown to incorporate a concern with repeat
patterns, interpretations from nature, translations from an
'original', and the incorporation of mistakes and flaws in copying;
all of which have strong links with lace production.
A series of small sculptures laid on broad bench tables alluded to
and expanded on Borland's investigative study of the cycle of life
in its enduring entirety. These were emblematic fragments of
existence turned into specimens, laid out as evidence of bygone,
existing and future times. Among them, porcelain bobbins cast from
human finger bones, cast female wrists, aortic 'pinhole' drawings
and fragments of agate from the Burn Anne.
In the midst of the gallery, water-filled globes hung from the
roof, evocative of early lamps used by the lace makers. The light
of a single candle in their midst would have passed through the
globes, bathing seated concentric circles of lace makers in its
glow. The most talented would sit nearest the light, while the less
gifted were seated to the rear.
Here, Borland created a potent emblem of a bygone practice, using
absence and void to generate an enigmatic corporeal presence within
the space.
