AILSA CRAIG - 2017
Jesmonite, found objects 30x20cm
Ailsa Craig is an uninhabited island off of the Ayrshire coast of Scotland. Formed from the plug of an extinct volcano believed to be 500 million years old, it is made of blue hone granite, which is quarried to make curling stones. It is one of only two places in the world where stone is quarried for this purpose.
I am drawn to the physical similarities between the island and the curling stones made from it.
This piece relates to the island itself and to the early curling stones found in Scotland known as chanel stones. These are flat bottomed stones found in river beds, which have been formed by the movement of water, in the same way that Ailsa Craig has been weathered and formed by the ocean over millions of years.
Looking out to Ailsa Craig from the mainland it might appear to sit on the water like a curling stone on ice, and trying to judge its distance brings to mind the fine tuning that a curler has to make to judge distance in relation to the movement of the stone. This also suggests to me the movement of an island or mountain on ice like a glacial erratic boulder.
