Vivien McDermid b.1981
Vivien McDermid (b.1981) is a painter based in Edinburgh
Vivien Mcdermid is represented by Blue Shop Gallery
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Vivien McDermid (b.1981) is a painter based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She graduated with a degree in fashion design from Edinburgh College of Art in 2005 and began to paint after the birth of her first child in 2007. In recent years she has exhibited in group and duo exhibitions but ‘Burnt Milk and Honey’ is her first solo show.
McDermid describes painting as the language in which she feels she can most fluently communicate and untangle the experiences of being human. For her, the act of painting is a continual strengthening of the bridge which joins the inner and external worlds. -
“Painting often feels to me like a kind of excavation or an unburying of something lost. I dig for what might be tangible within my compulsive daydreams. I like to feel as though I’m unearthing something precious; something that is all at once mysterious and familiar”. Taste, bite and colour are often the starting points for new work: Sour sweets, candles, lichen, a glare of autumn sun, glowing flowers in the window of a dark room.
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Solo show at Blue Shop Gallery 2024
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‘Burnt Milk & Honey’ by Vivien McDermid at Blue Shop Gallery | April 2024
"I first discovered the work of Vivien McDermid in late 2021 just as the idea for our brand new two storey gallery was born. Vivien travelled down from Edinburgh to see the space in November 2022 just as we were opening the doors and, sitting in the sunlit garden of Van Gogh Café, we discussed the idea of her solo show. Vivien is an artist and a mother so we excitedly scheduled the show for Spring 2024. The work is drenched with femininity, our relationship with the home, and how recurring 'things' seem to embody one's own feelings and place in their own life. Take the untethered birthday balloon - its vulnerability to combustion contrasts with its own symbolism from a happy childhood. These works visually tackle and address McDermid's manoeuvre into motherhood so sensitively and sweetly. She commented on the theme of being a newborn's mother: "No more of the ceaseless daydreaming that had become my habit. A whole other person to keep alive leaves no time for reverie. She grabbed me with her tiny doll-hand and pulled me back down to earth again and again. If I want to be a good mother I need to start building a bridge between my inner and outer existence." McDermid's internal dialogue is painted in every work and the paintings are rich in feeling, drenched in warmth and light with a few recurring dark looming figures and some naughty little critters to keep us guessing."
- Ocki, Blue Shop Gallery Director
“Vivien McDermid came to painting after the birth of her first child in 2007, having graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a degree in fashion design. For the artist, painting is akin to 'an excavation or an unburying of something lost'—a method by which she can untangle the conundrums of daily life and unite internal and external realities.
McDermid's recent oil paintings are hypnotically textured, hazy like a remembered vision or an image emerging in a dream. Her inspirations are deeply sensual, including smells and tastes, and speak to the relationship between femininity, domesticity, and mundanity.
The works at Blue Shop Gallery were produced between 2023 and early 2024, with Gallery Director Ocki Magill saying the body of work addresses the artist's 'manoeuvre into motherhood so sensitively and sweetly'. The paintings glow but not entirely positively—darkness looms in the frame, reminding viewers of the complexities of balancing hope and gentleness with the often-brutal realities of living.”
-Verity Babbs, Ocula Magazine
