13th – 27th May 2025

“My work explores the tension between abstraction and representation within the landscape, with a particular focus on Scottish hillscapes. I’m drawn to their stillness, their weathered faces, and the quiet strength they hold. Through my paintings, I aim to reveal the delicacy and intimacy of these places, capturing not just how they appear, but how they feel.“

Surroundings | pencil on paper, 300cm x 26cm

We’re delighted to welcome Kayla Spence back to Six Foot Gallery for her solo show Shifting Light, Silent Land, opening Tuesday 13th May, in which she explores the imposing landscapes around us that exist as a constant presence long beyond our own lifetimes.

Kayla is based in Aberdeen and graduated from Gray’s School of Art in 2024. She was a participant on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of The Year, an experience that gave her the confidence to produce this solo exhibition and has acted as an anchor for the development of her practice post-graduation. Using a restricted colour palette, primarily in oil and graphite, Kayla explores concepts of nation, solitude, and place through abstracted Scottish landscapes. This exhibition marks a significant moment in Kayla’s artistic journey as she challenges and reflects on her past practice.

Read our interview with Kayla over on our blog.

During her time at Gray’s, Kayla assisted the curatorial team, producing multiple exhibitions and leading her own group show at Moray Art Centre in February 2024. Kayla’s practice allows her to reconcile with ideas of place, memory, and identity through landscape studies, creating a meditative environment for the viewer to engage with the familiarity of landscape for a moment of reflection and consideration.

Creating these paintings offers me space to process the comfort and, at times, the uncertainty the hills evoke. They are more than just physical places; they represent home, memory, and identity.

Kayla is drawn to the exploration of atmosphere and connections to nature evoked within the Tonalist, Abstract Expressionist, and the Celtic Revival movements. She finds inspiration in the work of Peter Doig, Luc Tuymans, and Barry McGlashan. She works with a restricted colour palette, primarily using oil and graphite, to explore the imposing landscapes around us that exist as a constant presence long beyond our own lifetimes.

I’m fascinated by how these immense structures, like Munros, remain largely unchanged over thousands of years, yet the light falling on them changes constantly.

Despite a muted palette, Kayla’s work is dynamic and full of life, carefully considering the play and transformation of light on these static landscapes. She is able to create both a tension and intimacy between the landscape and the viewer. The restricted palette works in tension with her expressive brushwork and allows Kayla to mirror the emotional experience of being in these landscapes.

Kayla Spence’s solo show runs at Six Foot Gallery from 13th – 27th May 2025. See more of their work over on Instagram