The Selkie
Following study in Oxford and Aberdeen, Fraser spent time as the official artist on an Arctic Lapland expedition. He has a particular fascination for the sea, and for the myths and legends which surround it. Here, his semi-abstract style evokes the sea and mists of the Northern Isles, where the grey seals which crowd the rocky 'skerries' were called the Selkie Folk - humans under a spell who resumed their true form on Midsummer's Eve, when they cast off their seal skins and danced upon the shore. Fraser's approach to magic and mythology makes an interesting contrast to that of Alan Davie (b.1920) also represented in our collection.
