Scarlet Keiller - Painting

Image of Scarlett Keiller with artwork from her project 'Lost in Translation'

Scarlet Keiller teleports her audience to a post-apocalyptic world, where Earth’s civilisation has collapsed and humans are extinct. She challenges us to think about a world some 10, 50, 100 years after our extinction, where all human information has been abandoned and a new visual language has been created.

Scarlet, who is from Forres in Moray, has created, ‘Lost in Translation’ a challenging set of work that includes intense and domineering drawings. Scarlet makes no apologies for saying the point of her work is to be confusing and to make no sense as this conjures up the post-apocalyptic world.

The 21-year-old wanted to do a degree in fine art for as long as she can remember. She comes from a family of visual artists and musicians and has always been aware of the potential of having a career in the arts.

For most people, COVID-19 has been challenging, however Scarlet says it has inspired her work; “Last year, when the studios closed and we had to work from home, I found it liberating and the quality of my work skyrocketed from there. This year, I chose to create work exclusively in a digital format as this was accessible for me to do from home. If it weren't for COVID I'm not sure I would have made this kind of work.

Comic-style blue and white painting on floor and wall

“The mural I painted in my studio space felt like a natural extension of the themes I was exploring - invading an otherwise pristine environment and disrupting it - but if I had been in the studio all year with no restrictions, I imagine I would have gone in a very different direction.”

Scarlett’s work is inspired by films and comic books and she uses collage to combine these two art forms into her own visual language, similar to one that a stranger might find if visiting a human-less world for the first time.

Now that Scarlet is graduating, she hopes to apply for some residencies and to continue expanding her skillset. She is also a musician and wants to integrate music into her work.