Roland Fraser : New Engine
“Roland Fraser is not your average art school graduate. His work reflects the experience of his own journey into art, mixing the art historian’s expertise and eye with skilled craftsmanship and an increasing boldness in his artwork. The constructions in stripped, pale colours give his work a depth that draws you in, subtle and deeply satisfying.” Tim Cornwell (1962-2022)
"This show is my sixth at the gallery and consists of work made between 2023 and the first half of 2024. With the latest work, there is a strong reference to my immediate environment: the fields and buildings around Newton Farm in Midlothian. This has been my place of work for the last 30 years. Recently, this area has been subjected to major change and upheaval, the largely agricultural landscape has given way to modern development. This has provided me with a wealth of salvaged material, culled mainly from a former workshop and car body repair garage. It had been abandoned for decades and was earmarked for demolition. Many of the pieces are constructed from timber cladding and plywood boards that formed the interior workshop walls. The incidental marks left by paint samples, welding torches etc., are evident in the compositions.
The titles of the work are taken from local place names, many with a connection to mining or farming, and many of which no longer exist except in old maps. As the new wide pavements, parking lots, luxury houses and affordable flats sprout up, new names appear as the area begins another chapter in its history."
Roland Fraser, 2024.
