Fay Ballard – Where Have They Gone?

An exhibition of new drawings by Fay Ballard, inspired by her residency at the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney and her trip to Japan in 2024, explores rituals of grief and concepts of an afterlife.

Ballard, an atheist, reflects on our existence as composed of universal elements and how we cope with loss. Her visits to Neolithic sites—including stone circles in Aberdeenshire and burial chambers at Newgrange—have deepened her contemplation of the life-death cycle. In Japan, Ballard visited Mount Osore, associated with the mythical River Sanzu, a pilgrimage site where mourners leave offerings, enriching the inspiration behind her work.
The drawings, crafted with sumi ink from Nara, Japan, are displayed alongside circles of gesso on wood.
Connections arise from earlier works inspired by memories of Ballard’s late parents, such as a mirror from her father’s family home and a drawing of her mother’s girdle. Although stylistically different, these older pieces resonate with the new works, reflecting psychological and visual ties. Paul Carey-Kent describes in an accompanying book that they blend “inner feelings with the objective record of an emotionally charged spot.”

The exhibition is curated by Yuki Miyake. Alongside it, poet Tamar Yoseloff wrote “The Ship” in response to the drawings, published alongside an essay by Paul Carey-Kent in an accompanying book. A specially designed card for “The Ship” was created by Paul Neale.