Through exhibition spaces with thought-provoking impact, Arran-based conceptual artist Stephanie Province ponders important questions that address the human condition – that, ultimately, get us talking. But as for her Arran Open Studios offering for 2026, all is still ‘schtum’, discovers Emily Rose Mawson.
Goatfell fills Stephanie Province’s workshop window, huge and magnificent in tendrils of early summer mist. But the view across Brodick Bay isn’t the point here. As a conceptual artist, Stephanie creates work that we can connect with – a sort of departure point for processing and developing thought, and maybe even helping solve problems along the way. It is, she says, “a way of understanding things, a way of processing being here”.
Her work in progress – this year’s offering for Arran Open Studios – is in bits and pieces, displayed across trays and caddies of this, that and the other. There will be something to do with circles, says Stephanie, pointing out round litter she has gathered from local beaches and pavements. I spot part of a ceramic toilet, hub caps, and bottle lids. If this all sounds vague, it’s because the direction the exhibition will take is still completely under wraps.
There are some clues. Interactive elements, says Stephanie, along with human issues, are common themes in her work. The exhibition currently in situ is a good example. Called ‘Knots’, it features severed rope knots of all shapes and sizes, raining down from the ceiling where they are held by translucent cord. You can wal
k through them or sit on the floor and look up at them, and at first, it’s hard to focus on anything but the colours and sizes and variety of knots.
Thematically, the work broaches family estrangement – a significant trauma that can be incredibly difficult to talk about despite being estimated to affect one in five families in the UK alone, according to an Ipsos survey. This silent epidemic, explains Stephanie, is “a phenomenon that’s happening. People are cutting ties”.
This is where the knots come in – and where art might help. “I started asking myself questions. Why was the knot tied like that? Who tied it? What was its original purpose? Why was it severed?” says Stephanie. “And I was also thinking about families and how some relationships become difficult… Perhaps too difficult to unravel and make good again and for some people, the only option left is to say ‘I’ve had enough’. What I want to do is open up conversations. I want to put something out there that says it’s okay to talk about this.”
With all her work, Stephanie aims to produce pieces that people can respond to in their own way. The goal, she summarises, is for her art to end up in people’s minds, not their sitting room: “They say a problem shared is a problem halved, and maybe by putting something out there, people can have a conversation about it, or an internal conversation about it.”
Another piece, on display in the next room, is part of an assemblage exhibition called ‘Remnants’. Specifically, I’m told after some sussing it out, it’s the skeleton of a duck, painted soft gold, and coiled, like a twig crown, into a sort of foetal position. Stephanie tells me the bones adopted this shape themselves when she was preparing the sculpture. There’s also a rabbit’s spine, and the beak of a bird. “This is all about what we leave behind when we die – what’s our legacy?” she says. “It’s surely not just our bones – it’s the relationships, the communications, the impact we have in our interactions.”
Not in the least bit squeamish, Stephanie says she’s always had an insatiable appetite for collecting what she finds. She spent part of her childhood in the Middle East, often getting into trouble with her mother for the things she brought home. “But she did let me keep a sheep’s skull – as long as it was out of sight,” she remembers.
Upstairs, Stephanie’s preliminary work for Arran Open Studios 2026 is laid out. I notice “the significance of circles” scribbled on a note, along with sketches, prints, and the assortment of collected circular litter – all getting ready to be taken downstairs to the exhibition space. Pinned above the workbench is a quote from Surrealist artist Joan Miró: “Using reality as a point of departure, never as a stopping place.” Stephanie interprets it: “It’s a question of – where do you go with that? Take it somewhere else, further… forward.” That’s certainly what happens when you step into her open studio.
About Arran Open Studios
Arran Open Studios is an annual initiative incorporating painters, sculptors and craftspeople from the Isle of Arran. Launched in 2012, it operates under the umbrella arts charity the Arran Theatre and Arts Trust. This year, it takes place from 14-17 August 2026.