Richard Bracken Artist

Coille Loch Airceig is informed by research into charcoal platforms located in the woodland on the south side of Loch Arkaig, where from the 17th century, charcoal was once produced as fuel for small-scale iron furnaces in the area (Achnacarry and Invergarry). Later overplanted with fast-growing invasive conifers or left to be shaded out by beech, the remnants of these woodlands and the legacies of past relationships have been largely overlooked and neglected.  

The piece references the shape of iron ‘pigs’ - the ingots that resulted from the initial smelting of iron with charcoal made in and from the woodlands. These long bars of uniform dimensions and surface typically bore the name of the foundry they were smelted in before being shipped off as the raw material for industrial and military infrastructure.

The ten ingots of charcoal and beeswax that make up the work are cast from ancient trees growing around the charcoal platforms on Loch Arkaig side. The piece aims to focus attention back to the interior of the present-day woodland itself, to the textures, nuances and characters of individual trees growing there as it undergoes a process of being uncovered, rediscovered and restored with a focus on community and biodiversity.