Artist Spotlight - Rob Mulholland - Vestige

Deep in the forest of Aberfoyle, Trossachs (Scotland) there is an installation by Rob Mulholland. This is definitely one of my favorite pieces of installation art. It combines the beauty of nature with a voice of ecological responsibility. Throw in some really cool mirrors and BAM! Art! 

Scottish sculptor Rob Mulholland creates these eerie mirrored sculptures out of Perspex, a kind of acrylic glass. The pieces blend into their surroundings, at times appearing almost completely camouflaged and then they become visible as your perspective changes. The mirrors reflect the forest and distort the reflection, making the human (or animal, like below) outline barely visible. 

Rob Mulholland with one of his mirror sculptures

From Mulholland's website: His work explores the human relationship with the wider environment. His approach is not judgmental, more reflective and questioning about the ever-changing world around us. The human desire to leave a trace of ones-self for future generations has always intrigued him. It's a driving force to create and leave a semblance of our-selves as individuals and as a society. The reflective figures ask us to look again and consider the symbiotic relationship we have with our natural and man-made environment.

I find this dialogue that Mulholland creates between man, our made environments and our natural environments extremely fascinating, as well as vital to our future. This installation says to me: "You reflect your environment, you are your surroundings." 

Here is one question from an interview with Mulholland: In what way do you think your installations, ‘Vestige’ being a good example, teach us about the world, and why is ancestry so important to you?

I have always been interested in history and how the past shapes our present and future world. ‘Vestige’ gave me the opportunity to express some of my own feelings regarding ancestry. I wanted the visitors who came across the installation at the forest trail in Aberfoyle to reflect on how much has changed in a relatively short time and to consider and ponder the lives of those who lived and worked on these hillsides in the recent past. On reflection ‘ Vestige’ could be adopted in many locations throughout the world. It’s a common theme of lost communities and displacement.

As someone pointed out - before you see them, you see you.