It was Instagram that first connected artists Vivian Ross-Smith from Fair Isle and Jane Walker from Newfoundland in Canada. Vivian ‘liked’ some of Jane’s photographs taken on Fogo Island. At the time, Jane was completing research for her masters at Glasgow School of Art, comparing the experiences of artists living and working in rural contexts in Scotland and in Newfoundland. Jane invited Vivian to be a research participant, which led to many shared emails and a growing friendship.
In July 2016, Jane travelled to Shetland where the artists met in person for the first time. Their mutual ideas about art, island life, traditional methods of making and inclusivity in rural contemporary art discourse immediately bonded the two artists. By the end of their one hour interview the framework for Islandness was roughly laid out.
Three years later, and the Islandness project goes from strength to strength. We caught up with Vivian recently to ask her a bit more about the collaboration, how it came about and what being an islander means to her.