Sgàire Wood: In Pride, In Piety, In Vigilance art review – Heraldry of hurt
The artist draws on Northern Irish heritage, queer identity and memories of violence in a playful yet unsettling exhibition
A dazzling regular for years at queer club nights and festivals across Europe in her fabulous, saucer-eyed, drag alter ego, Glasgow-based Irish artist/model Sgàire Wood presents an exhibition exploring heritage, identity and violence. Her debut solo show Ongaku Tiffany (2023) at the sorely missed CCA marked her move from performance into visual art, although she’s always blurred the two, weaving costume design and make-up artistry into a practice where Wood is often the canvas (she studied fashion and textiles at GSA). For In Pride, In Piety, In Vigilance, her body is absent, playing with medieval heraldic symbolism instead: the proud peacock, pious pelican and vigilant crane appear in a collection that nods to her Northern Irish childhood.
A circular work blurs lettering that spells out ‘fake blood’, ‘dial 999’ and ‘dancing’. Coats of arms are covered in thorns, haberdashery kit and glow-in-the-dark witchy fingers. With white walls and a loaded motif of the colour orange throughout, there is a more sober tone to her usual aesthetic, but a literal twinkle in the eye is always there. A giant swan pedalo outside takes on a sinister twist, with its Battenburg markings reminding viewers of the British police presence and oppression in Northern Ireland. Metallic grids over one artwork are a throwback to the security cages over Belfast pubs while the threat of violence has added charge given that Wood transitioned as a teenager. Fake eyelashes and a plastic peacock toy put playful frills onto traumatic material, reframing fascist horror and misery with pleasing patterns and sensual textures.
Sgàire Wood: In Pride, In Piety, In Vigilance, Jupiter Artland, Wilkieston, until Sunday 18 October.