In 2020, to mark Cove Park’s 20th anniversary year, we launched a series of Artist Profiles, sharing the work of our former residents and highlighting the artists’ own news: readings, exhibitions, projects or events. We are pleased to continue this series during 2021 and to focus in particular on those artists connected to the Crisis Residency Programme, a series of residencies designed, during an acutely difficult and challenging time, to support those in the early stages of establishing their careers. The first in this current series is Rhona Jack.

We were very pleased to host visual artist Rhona Jack at Cove Park in July for a one-month residency. Based in Dundee, Rhona graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in 2017 and she is a Committee Member of the city’s artist run initiative GENERATORprojects.

Rhona is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily with sculpture, printmaking and fibre art. She has a particular interest craft processes and describes her work as often ‘… blurring the lines between art, craft and design.’ This interest stems in part from her research into industrialisation and mass production processes, which served to obscure the role of the individual maker and the value of the handmade.

She has written that, ‘The hand of the artist is always present throughout my work, and the tactility of materials is of high importance. Every inch of the work has been handled by me, and the hours spent making are recorded in every stitch, every knot, every joint, every interwoven strand. My work is made primarily of reclaimed materials that long to be touched and hold within them a history of touch.’

At Cove Park Rhona focussed entirely on new work, using the residency as an opportunity to experiment and work with a wide range of textiles and wools. Although continuing to work primarily with reclaimed materials – an approach that is central to her practice – she produced a new series of complex and intricately woven pieces, on a comparatively more intimate scale than in previous projects. She also experimented with framing in relation to these new works, using second-hand frames given to her in advance of the residency.

The opportunity to work alongside other artists, curators and writers was vitally important for Rhona, and she took part in a series of studio presentations, discussions and readings with other residents, including Laura Castagnini, Patrick Davison, Audrey Osler and Cecilia Stamp.

Rhona is currently working on a textile installation to be included in Hidden Door festival in September 2021, the idea for which was developed during her time at Cove Park. She will also be presenting a series of workshops as part of the Grampian Hospitals Art Trust’s Creative Mobile Unit later in the year.

Rhona is one of 11 Scotland-based visual artists awarded residencies as part of the Crisis Residency Programme, a new series of residencies for 2020 and 2021 designed to support early career artists at a particularly challenging and difficult time. This programme is supported by Freelands Foundation.