MAKING HER MARK

Making Her Mark was shot in October 2017 in North Uist, The Outer Hebrides and edited over a period of 6 months. It was presented in a solo show entitled Making Her Mark, at Taigh Chearsabhagh Gallery and Museum, opening on the 3rd of August 2018 and running for 3 months.

In Making Her Mark, a woman, performed by Scottish dance artist Tess Letham, sets out to draw a borderline directly onto a landscape. As she struggles with an oversized pencil to execute this physically demanding task, the ridiculousness and futility of her actions are accentuated. Filmed from the air, on land and water, on the islands of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, the work highlights the smallness of the human body set against the landscape it wishes to tame or exert control over. Human demand to demarcate the land is called into question as the performer moves through an ever-changing environment. The lines she draws are washed away by the waves, covered by tides and vegetation, and swept into the air by the wind.”

With thanks to the Wapping Project who commissioned this work and to Marta Michalowska and to Thomas Zanon-Larcher who helped make it happen. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Major Individual Award, received in the year of production.

To Andy McKinnon and all at Taigh Chearsabhagh.

To all the contributors:

Tess Letham (performer)

Laura Cannell (original score)

Zhe Wu ( sound mix)

Sue Giovanni (online edit)

Antonia Blazanovic (production assistant) and the many others who helped along the way.

Making Her Mark screened at:

Making Her Mark | Solo Show | Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre | Outer Hebrides, Scotland | Commissioned by The Wapping Project | 2018

SSA, Scottish Royal Academy, Edinburgh | 2019

International Showcase Online | CUTLOG SSA + VAS, Edinburgh | Scotland | 2020

Making Her Mark was purchased for the Collection of The Arts Council of Ireland in 2022