Roots. Dr Jerry Glover and Jim Richardson

Dr Jerry Glover has been researching root dynamics and soil organic carbon and exploring the possibilities and ramifications of changing our agricultural production from annuals to perennials. 

These incredible images are of (top to bottom) Missouri Goldenrod, Compass Plant and Wheatgrass were taken by Jim Richardson to document Dr Jerry Glovers findings. The composite photographs, eight to fourteen per plant were stitched together in vertical panoramas to try to capture the incredible 14 foot structures.

Jenni Crompton

These are some details of Jenny Crompton's; 'Sea, Country Spirits' which won the 2016 Lorne Sculpture Biennale. 

Jenny Crompton studied acting and yet moved to art with no formal study she explored wood carving and other materials these incredible sculptures are woven from wire and assembled with found objects such as shells, feathers and grasses collected when walking. 

"In Sea Country Spirits, there are three large totems – a flying fox, from the land; a bird, representing sky; and a fiddler ray, representing the sea. These three totems were the inner circle around which the other spirits had to be formed. Nothing was drawn or pre-thought except for the first three totems; I kept the process loose. When I was making, I was thinking about things that I can see but not in a representational way, instead allowing a feeling of what it says to me. Circling these three totems are smaller sculptures that are representations from the sky, land and sea; they range from quite representational into purely abstracted forms. I did not think in a specific way, but I started making and let the shapes evolve by themselves. All the pieces have been decorated by the found objects from the land. I had to take in to account which objects could be sewn back in. After the pieces have been sprayed white, the found objects were attached, but they dictated how the object would be constructed." Jenny Crompton 

Tom Wilson III

Below: "A single line of teeth like the tops of a mountain range is a section of a fallow deer  lower jaw."

Tom Wilson is a friend of mine from my days studying at Edinburgh College of Art. He has always had a fascination and passion for nature and wildlife and his practice has been to draw, paint and photograph his findings. Recently he started taking plaster casts to document his specimens, and lately his attentions have focused upon teeth.

 "I have collected a whole range of teeth, as part of my skull and natural found objects collection; deer jaws and teeth of cattle and sheep. I have sawn teeth in half so that children can see how they  are made and I have rare teeth, a woolly mammoth  and a cave bear tooth, with badger, fox and other predators. The collection of objects that I have built up includes objects which have been chewed and eaten, from hazel nuts by mice n voles, to trees gnawn by beavers and bark stripped by deer and I used these to create small plaster  casts. Together the collection enables you to have an insight into how animals live and behave and using the plaster then develops these insights into finished art pieces." Thomas Wilson

Above and below: casts from apples gnawed by rabbits.

Below: Cave Bear Tooth.

Will Urmston

Joy at my first day of the annual ECA degree show was provided by Will Urmston who was graduating with Art, Space and Nature, MFA. 

Will's show was subtle and stunning fragrant, suspended fungal orbs with incredible delicacy and beauty. Little worlds to be scrutinised, sniffed and marveled at.

Doaa Yule

In this time of warped realities, of fake news, fictional news, non-news, and knowledge twisting news of lies and propaganda Doaa Yules' degree work questioned the philosophy of knowledge. 'Fact' above was suspended twigs which could be viewed a 'Fact' or a random collection of twigs suspended, depending upon your viewpoint.

"Meaning, being and knowledge, those floating concepts with no exactness are endlessly, form and reform. This makes any attempt to fully understand, a delusional process. Ambitiously, I tried to see if I can capture them and tried to see if anyone had managed to. Philosophers, scientists, etc. all seem to be wandering inside the same cycle, infinitely wandering after the light, blinded. I found myself wandering after the light, blinded. 
Through meaningful, meaningless “objects”, suggesting meaningful, meaningless “ideas”, I try to communicate our state of, “wandering after the light blinded”.
Prisoners in Plato’s Cave allegory take shadows, as reality, the cave and shadows are their world, even the shadows of their own bodies taken as their selves. They learn through shadows, how to live and what living is. That is what they found themselves in, what seems to be a choice is a choice of what is there. What seems to be knowledge is, knowledge limited by their abilities and their environment. Being is surreptitiously forming them, placing their rails and setting them on those rails, to go endlessly round and round in the same cycles thinking that they are discovering new things and seeing new worlds, yet, they do not know, that they are just shadows. Similarities between our situation and theirs make me question concepts of reality and knowledge; aren’t we prisoners of our senses, prisoners of our worlds, of what we get taught to be "facts" and "normal"? Can we think outside all of that? Do language and perception, in which concepts are embedded, dictate how we think and form ways, through which we see and categorise everything around us?" …Doaa Yule

Through this exhibition, I aim to demonstrate glimpses of these ideas; my goal is to shake our granted belief in knowledge, reality and even the self, as solid, concrete concepts. I present a body of artworks using various mediums, such as sculpture, light and moving image. I express these concepts from different angles, using the rich significations of Plato’s cave allegory as a unifying theme. Doaa Yule

Macbeth at Dunfermline Abbey

It has been a very busy month and last week was an especially busy week.
I have been helping with a site specific interpretation of Macbeth at Dunfermline Abby for Tina West and her Acting and Performance students from Fife College, creating whirling dervish skirts and photographing the event. I have photographed these students performances many times this year and have loved watching them and their performances evolve.
The production included my daughter who took time out from school to participate and it was great to watch her flourish with her role.
This was was an incredibly moving contemporary production of Macbeth with physical theatre, dance and intense audio which dealt with issues of personal and military conflict, pertinent to our age, set within the fantastic grounds of Dunfermline abbey.
The project was funded by Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and was offered as a free event to schools and the Dunfermline community and supported by Historic Environment Scotland. 

Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford's work was inspired by working with people with dementia. The laser etchings were incredibly beautiful and glowing with light. These panels interacted beautifully with the quotes on the walls, each other and the people viewing the exhibition. This layering of surface, word and environment was a visual poetry and perfect for the delicacy of human memory that it was representing.

“I Used To Be Like You A Long Time Ago” Mrs I, Dementia Sufferer 2016

"My work explores different aspects of the human condition - I aim to take these intangible concepts and transform them into accessible images through photographic manipulation and modern techniques. Using pressed flowers from the University of Dundee Herbarium Collection I have created laser etchings inspired by Dr Aloysius Alzheimer’s initial illustrations of dementia. I drew parallels between these collections and the disease, both trapped in a moment in time. Altered yet still beautiful." Amy Crawford.

Emily Watson

Portraiture offers a unique opportunity to explore both personal connections and more abstract aesthetic concerns. The subject matter has always been important to me: I like to capture people I know on a personal level. It excites me to photograph and paint close friends and family members as opposed to strangers because I can capture a likeness and an individual's personality better this way. I chose to photograph my friend's band Ayakara when they came up to Dundee for their first gig on their recent tour. I asked them to stand in front of a wall of graffiti which would allow me to paint more abstract shapes in the background. I also choose to use very vibrant colours to represent the Indie, psychedelic scene these people are associated with. I wanted to capture them in their prime, in the midst of their growing success as a band - self-conscious figures about to go head first into an unknown, but possibly exciting future. I like to work with loose abstract styles whilst also using realism in the figure to contrast. Emily Watson

Cat Hills

Cat Hills graduation show at Dundee featured monsters drawn and made large as textile sculptures occupying space and encouraging you to use them for comfort.

As a child, my fears and feelings materialised into monsters of a purely imaginative nature. I drew creatures with sharp teeth and long claws to make sense of the darkness under my bed or the bump in the night. Revisiting this, my interest now lies within the therapeutic value of drawing. More specifically, how mental monsters help to depict an emotional state and well being. I work through sketches and sculpture to make sense of this intangible topic, addressing the realities of something which, as we grow older, can become the monsters we imagined as children. Cat Hills

Angie Peat

Angie Peat's graduation show from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. Angie's work was a technicolor circus of  culture, the rioting ear fluff of humanity bottled, framed and automated.