Sutherland-Milner

Artists | Scotland, UK

Chloe Milner (BA hons) and Jasmin Sutherland (BA hons, MFA) are both visual artists based in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. They each studied Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art. Their recent collaborations come out of a shared interest in themes relating to female identity, childhood roles and societal pressure to conform. They reference and consider the influence of particular fairy tales and the traditional underlining of gender stereotypes. Together they work with sculpture, installation, staging and photography. ‘The process of creating and developing the artwork opens up a space within which to express, work through, transform and release. Through our visual images we hope to create connection and communication, turning powerlessness into power.’

Project Idea : Rose Mirror Rose

Rose Mirror Rose is a video piece but includes staging, photography, performance and text. Rose Mirror Rose relates our current lock-down situation to the traditional fairy tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’ or ‘Briar Rose’ (Brothers Grimm). In this story a spell is cast on the Princess and she falls asleep for a hundred years, while a high hedge of roses grows up around the castle protecting and imprisoning her within. Using imagery inspired by the fairy-tale we explore this theme of protection versus imprisonment. We also look at female identity, particularly in the context of today’s social media pressures. The traditional hand mirror can be seen as synonymous with the smart phone and symbolizes the ongoing obsession with the monitoring, manipulation and projection of self-image. Rose Mirror Rose was begun just before lock-down and unexpectedly some of the key themes we had begun to work with seemed extremely relevant in this new context. Through extensive discussion, experimenting and editing we have now developed and re-contextualized our ideas, concept and visual imagery.