By Kirsty Gilchrist
‘The Loss’ by Joyce W. Cairns PPRSA DEd(hc)HRHA HRWA HRBA RSW is an oil painting that was completed in 1990 and acquired by the Scottish Maritime Museum from the artist in 2016.
The painting shows the Aberdeen Pilot Boat No. 2 tied up in Aberdeen Harbour and contains references to the fishing village Footdee in the background. Presented as a vehicle for lost souls, the boat is surrounded by different faces depicting suffering and loss; a mother and an infant, a sailor, and a clown to name a few.
Joyce W. Cairns PPRSA DEd(hc)HRHA HRWA HRBA RSW was born in 1947 and brought up in Edinburgh. Cairns’ work is mainly autobiographical, based on memories intertwined with present experiences. Cairns’ work is also influenced by her connection to the village of Footdee at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour where she lived for many years.
Cairns often centres a dominant woman figure in her work, who plays the leading role as a luring siren of hope, fear, death, loneliness or loss. Notably, the artist was the first woman elected president of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture in 2018, a position that she held until 2022.
Cairns has contributed to exhibitions since 1969, and her paintings can be found in numerous private and public collections in Scotland and internationally.
‘The Loss’ is currently displayed alongside two of Cairns’ other works ‘Ship to Shore’ and ‘Gull, Fish and Squall’ in the Scottish Maritime Museum’s current exhibition in partnership with the RSA, ‘Tides of Time’. These paintings can be viewed in person during a visit to the museum until the exhibition closes at the end of April 2026.
Sources:
Joyce W. Cairns | The Women’s Art Collection
Joyce W. Cairns – Overview | Royal Scottish Academy
