Patricia MacKinnon-Day works in various media, repurposing everyday objects and materials often found on-site, as well as in film, performance, and photography. Her subject matter is frequently outside the mainstream or on the periphery. She was awarded the Scarce Yellow Sally residency project based in locations in and around Wrexham, North Wales, working in collaboration with Buglife, Chester Zoo and community organisations.
Mackinnon-Day produced a film, When Sally Met Sally, which is a playful, layered narrative that makes the connection between the stonefly and a fictitious young woman named Sally, living in rural Wrexham in 1959, when the Scarce Yellow Sally was discovered in the River Dee. This residency aimed to bring rarely seen underwater life ‘to the surface’, exploring ways in which people can relate to the story of the tiny aquatic Scarce Yellow Sally, and drawing attention to how we can collectively positively impact river restoration and improvements in water quality to save these, and other creatures.
The film When Sally Met Sally is a playful, layered narrative that makes the connection between the stonefly and a fictitious young woman named Sally, living in rural Wrexham in 1959, when the Scarce Yellow Sally was discovered in the River Dee. Although the stonefly had been known for over a century in other UK rivers, this was a special moment for the local area. The outcome offers the viewer an opportunity to reflect on the beauty and fragility of our natural surroundings.
The Scarce Yellow Sally’s invisibility and ecological fragility successfully sparked discussions with different communities about isolation, well-being, and loneliness. The Art Film 'When Sally Met Sally' straddles the line between scientific reports explaining the significance and importance of the stonefly and the story of Sally, a fictitious character, who recalls, as a 22-year-old woman, the discovery of the Scarce Yellow Sally in Bangor-on-Dee in 1959. Young Sally loves nature, she is carefree and happy, and (just like the Scarce Yellow Sally) loves dancing.
Today’s Sally compares the fragility and invisibility of the Scarce Yellow Sally to the challenges she now faces in old age and finds that being immersed in nature strengthens her physical and mental well-being.
The interchange between fiction and reality provided an opportunity for creative intervention with the elderly members of the Rainbow Centre community. Workshops included dance performances and film presentations, followed by discussions, as well as painting, drawing, and sharing of memories. These activities were relaxed and conversations flowed about well-being, invisibility, ecology and environmental changes since 1959.