CAIR: Karlyn Sutherland
Karlyn Sutherland is an artist and designer mainly working in glass. She originally trained as an architect and is from Lybster, which is where she is currently based.
Karlyn studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art and the University of Edinburgh where she received multiple awards and was also employed as a design tutor and research assistant. She began working in glass in 2009 when her research into the topics of place and attachment led her home to Lybster and to her enrolment on a master class at North Lands Creative Glass. She has since gone on to exhibit nationally and internationally.
"Central to my work, both in glass and architecture, is a long-standing interest in the bond between people and place; my practice explores this dialogue, with a particular focus on the characteristics of space that shape our memories and sense of attachment to our environment."
Karlyn will be our Lybster Artist in Residence, working specifically with Caithness Community Connections in Lybster. She will be responding to the Rural Caithness Locality Plan and developing community connections using origami and other design techniques.
UPDATE: 30 MARCH 21
Due to the difficulties of lockdown, Karlyn has been busy building packs that could be completed at home. These packs have been sent out to 80 local school kids!
Photos of the packs being built
Karlyn said "Because we're still not quite able to meet indoors in groups yet, I came up with a project that could be done at home, but still hopefully enjoyed by the wider public. The sea and the harbour have been really important to Lybster, so I chose that as my starting point, and had a selection of nautical-themed shapes laser cut (including the outline of the lighthouse at Lybster Harbour, a building I think is a bit of a landmark for the village), so they could be backed with coloured tissue paper to make silhouettes and dioramas that can be displayed in windows, and either lit by daylight and viewed inside, or viewed outside at night, once it's dark enough for the lights to be on inside."
If you live in the Lybster area and received a pack, please share what you've done via the LAC Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/LythArtsCentre