The Selkie
This painting is inspired by the humanitarian crisis facing refugees and the particularly tragic story of Mercy Baguma, an asylum seeker who was found dead in her Glasgow flat in August.
I want this painting to emphasize the need for us to embrace those who need our help.
The selkie is a mythical figure of Scottish folklore who is capable of changing from seal to human. Stories of selkies come mostly from remote communities on Scotland’s extensive coasts. There are both male and female selkies and they are visitors who can bring magical comfort to lonely people. It has been said that the stories originated from Finnish canoeists who wore sealskins and who travelled across the sea to Scotland.
In this painting the selkie is shown at the point where she emerges from the cold sea embracing a frightened crying refugee girl who is wearing a life jacket and clutching a tyre inner tube round her waist. The selkie is looking out of the picture protectively. She is looking directly at you.
The frightened girl tightly grips an old soft toy in the shape of a seal pup. In the vignette panel on the lower left of the picture we can see the girl at an earlier time standing with her little brother (she can be identified by the red ribbon in her hair). In the vignette we see that the seal toy is being held by her brother and not her. It actually belonged to him. She is holding it in the main picture, however, and this makes us look at the wild stormy sea portrayed in the lower right hand vignette and imagine the tragic journey she has just endured.
I want to imagine Scotland and my native city, Glasgow, to be places where those fleeing from danger can find welcome and solace. Tragedy must strengthen our resolve.
(Glasgow is represented in this painting through the motto:
Here is the bird that never flew
Here is the tree that never grew
Here is the bell that never rang
Here is the fish that never swam.)
Frank McNab