In celebration of Cove Park’s 25th Anniversary, our fourth Spotlight on 25 is by visual artist Ilana Halperin. Ilana has had several residencies at Cove Park and is currently preparing for a major solo show – What is Us and What is Earth – at Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, from 27 February to 17 May this year.

‘From long days in summer working on a project about Greenland (and volcanologists); to Hollow Mountain – an exploratory convergence of artists from both side sides of the Atlantic; and then, two weeks with an engineer developing a shared language of stones – over the course of 19 years, each encounter with Cove Park has opened something urgent and core within my work. It remains the place I dream about when I know an idea needs something truly supportive and visionary to grow.’

Ilana Halperin was born in New York and lives and works between Glasgow and the Isle of Bute. She received her MFA from the Glasgow School of Art and her BFA from Brown University. Her work explores the relationship between geology and daily life. She combines fieldwork in diverse locations – on volcanoes in Hawaii, caves in France, geothermal springs in Japan, and in museums, archives and laboratories, with an active studio-based practice. Her work has featured in solo exhibitions worldwide including Cairn Centre d’Art in the UNESCO GeoPark of Haute Provence; Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité; Artists Space, New York; Manchester Museum and Akiyoshidai Natural History Museum, Japan. She was the Inaugural Artist Fellow at National Museums Scotland and Artist-Curator of Geology for Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.