A Labouring Life - RSA Version Galore

A Labouring Life (March 2024) was created for the Royal Scottish Academy’s Version Galore exhibition, which invited contemporary artists to respond to works from the RSA collection. The piece reinterpreted Patrick Hennessy’s A Still Life (1939), using the still life format to explore labour, place, and civic identity.

As part of the development process, I was able to spend time researching the original work through the Granton Archives. This opportunity offered valuable insight into Hennessy’s practice and context, informing both the conceptual and visual direction of the piece. Drawing on Hennessy’s civic pride, the work reframed the still life through the lens of my hometown, Newcastle upon Tyne. Familiar cultural markers such as Greggs, Newcastle Brown Ale, and references to the blue collar workforce and steel industry were brought together to reflect a city shaped by labour and industry.

The final work took the form of an A2 Hahnemühle Gloss Rag print mounted onto stainless steel sourced from Newcastle, physically grounding the piece in the material history it referenced. Digital manipulation and carefully constructed composition were used to create a surreal image that translated a historic painting into a contemporary context.

Exhibited alongside Hennessy’s original A Still Life within the Royal Scottish Academy, the work completed a full circle of interpretation central to the Version Galore exhibition. This dialogue between past and present positioned the piece within a wider lineage of reinterpretation while remaining rooted in personal and regional experience. Looking back, A Labouring Life marked an important moment in my practice, opening up new ways of working with humour, materiality, and cultural reference beyond the boundaries of university work.