Marking the beginning of the 2020 season at Edinburgh Printmakers, The Botanist’s Daughter will be Alexandra’s first solo exhibition in the UK. Her vibrant hyper-real representations of plants and insects draw inspiration from the rich and bountiful resources of hand-pulled engravings found in Museum and Library collections, illustrating botanical and entomological themes.
The Botanist’s Daughter subverts relationships of scale between the viewer and the plants and insects represented in the exhibition. Haeseker’s intention is to encourage us to develop a new paradigm in relating to the natural world, by considering more fully what is often invisible to our eyes, and below our feet. These large scale pieces will take over Gallery 1 at Edinburgh Printmakers with the vibrant almost lurid colour schemes hinting at something not quite right.
Haeseker invites us to reflect upon how small changes made to the atmosphere and environment can have drastic and irreversible consequences for ecosystems, highlighting the fragility of the natural world, which is jeopardising the future of our planet and species.
Speaking ahead of the exhibition Alexandra Haeseker said:
My studio work the past decade has entered into the realms of where art and science meet. For The Botanist’s Daughter I have produced subjective imagery at a scale that invites consideration of the parallel world that has always been present alongside our own. This exhibition looks deeper into what is often invisible to our eyes, below our feet, to consider how small changes can have larger consequences.
Running concurrently to The Botanist’s Daughter is ACTINIC – Photography in Print. Edinburgh Printmakers and The ACTINIC Festival are working in partnership to present an exhibition of photographic printmaking by Scottish based artists, that celebrates the techniques of ‘Actinism’ in the context of contemporary visual arts practice. Each of the works on display will demonstrate the techniques of ‘Actinism’ which is an intrinsic property in radiation that produces photochemical activity. Within the medium of photography this includes processes such as photochromism, pinhole photography, salt albumen, chemigram, and instant film.
Listings Information:
Alexandra Haeseker: The Botanist’s Daughter
18 January to 22 March 2020
Gallery 1, Edinburgh Printmakers