Arctic experience inspired artist Lesley Burr's creative explosion

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The wild landscape inspired a series of beautiful and poignant works that capture the shifting Arctic as the climate crisis bites, now published in a new book and set to be unveiled at two forthcoming exhibitions.
While her face-to-face encounters with the resilient and creative indigenous people left a lingering impression - from them, the award-winning artist would discover a fresh source of creativity.

One of Lesley Burr's latest pieces is an Inuit family painting (Image: Lesley Burr)
Lochgilphead-based Lesley, one of the modern Glasgow Girls - the 1990s artist group whose work reflects the traditions of the original 19th century figurative artists – was chosen by the Friends of Scott Polar Research Institute as their 2019 artist in residence. 
It took her on board the CV Resolute to the remote Canadian Arctic region of Nunavut, a vast Arctic territory almost as big as Mexico, which has been inhabited for 4,500 years and is home to the world’s most northerly permanently inhabited place. 
On the way, she journeyed to Iqaluit and to Kimmirut, on the shore of the Hudson Strait and at one time a Hudson’s Bay trading post, and onwards to the small settlement of Kinngait, described as the Capital of Inuit Art and a centre for drawing, carving and printmaking. 
The contrasting themes of her mission – to witness wildlife, Inuit culture and nature – were, she says, “encapsulated in a magical journey to Nunavut”.

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While Kimmirut and Kinngait, she says, triggered in her a “strong sense of kinship” with Scotland’s own island communities. Although separated by thousands of miles, Lesley, who lived for ten years in Shetland, was struck by how both share a deep understanding of the natural environment which emerges in art and culture. 
“It was the most profound experience,” she added, recalling the journey, which resulted in a creative ‘explosion’ that has seen her produce at least 200 oil and watercolours, countless sketches, monoprints, photographs, sculptures and, inspired by the indigenous people she met, new explorations into printmaking, carving and stencilling. 
“I had not quite expected all the themes to come together in the way they did – that link with themes of nature and environment and recording landscape, and the entire relationship of people with that landscape,” she said.
“The human landscape was much more profound than I anticipated.”
Kinngait, with its congregation of artists, particularly specialising in print, was a brief visit but had a significant impact. “The cooperative there has been running since the 1960s - it’s well known for its production of prints and drawings,” she added. 

Spring in the Arctic will appear in exhibitions (Image: Lesley Burr)
“There is something about seeing artists work – the ritual of making and wanting to understand our world in a different shape or form. 
“At one point I watched a demonstration of artist printing using a stone lithograph carving. Although I’m a long-term member of the Glasgow print studio, my background is not as a printmaker. 
“But as an artist who makes different artwork, there was still that connection.”
The episode inspired Lesley, who graduated in Fine Art (Drawing and Painting) from Glasgow School of Art, to carry out further research into Inuit art on return home, and to explore whether she could incorporate some of their approaches in her own work. 
Confined to her home studio during lockdown, she was able to absorb herself in the experience and Inuit art, resulting in pared back, simplified prints and experiments with stencils.
As well as being struck by the artists and their work, Lesley found inspiration in the wildlife she encountered, among them the sight of huskies roaming in isolation on remote islands where they had been left by their Inuit owners during the summer months to fend for themselves. 

Sear Bears painting by Lesley Burr (Image: Lesley Burr)
That and her encounters with polar bears and the walruses they stalk for food has resulted in some poignant images, alongside others in her new book which show the vibrant colours of the Arctic, its vastness and its beauty. 
“The scale of it blew my mind,” she added. “It was a big area we covered, but still it was a tiny area of the arctic. 
“These encounters you have when you are there on ground or on ship watching is very different to reading about it. For example, if you are close to an iceberg, the air is really cold - there’s quite a visceral experience of being there in the moment. 
“Back home I had almost a year of lockdown immersed in my home studio - it was like an enforced period of reflection which I now feel very fortunate to have had as it meant I didn’t have to rush and was able to focus on my artwork.”
Selected works have been included in her book Painting The Polar North which documents her trip and coincides with an exhibition at the Stirling Museum and Art Gallery. 
The book includes a foreword from Colin R. Greenslade, Director of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture in Edinburgh, who praises her “extraordinarily beautiful” work and the important part it plays in chronicling the fragile environment. 
For while beautiful, he points out that they also illustrate a precious landscape and wildlife at risk from warming temperatures, with bright, joyful colours of reflected light tempered by foreboding skies and dark, sinister oceans.
“These Arctic works explode with the most beautiful, rich colours, but their message is stark. This polar environment is changing, and it will affect us all,” he writes. 
And as fascinating and absorbing as it was to visit the Arctic, Lesley said the experience left her increasingly aware of a deep sadness associated with the rapid melting of the sea ice, played out against a backdrop of the fragile landscape, unique wilderness and beauty, all on the brink of transformation.
“The impact of the climate crisis advances anxiety in people,” added Lesley. “I hope this is another way of helping to raise awareness of what is happening, and help others understand the incredible beauty that is there and what a  precious environment it is.”
Painting The Polar North by Lesley Burr is published by Sansom & Company. Her exhibition at Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum is on now and runs until April 2.