DEEP ROOTED EXHIBITION NOW OPEN

Artist Naomi Mcintosh with her work ‘Quiet Garden’ capturing the ephemeral qualities that surround the artist’s studio in the Cairngorms. Image: Greg Macvean

18.11.23

Dalziel + Scullion | Anya Gallaccio | Andy Goldsworthy | Andrew Mackenzie | Naomi Mcintosh | Katie Paterson | Hanna Tuulikki

Deep Rooted, a group exhibition featuring work by eight contemporary artists, has opened at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh. Each piece explores the relationship between people and the natural environment using a variety of media and approaches. The artworks range from a surround sound audio and digital choreography to a sensory experience; from paintings and photographs to hand-crafted objects made from wood. Some of the works reflect on current ecological issues, others explore our fragile coexistence with nature and capture its beauty.

Our relationship with the natural world hangs in a balance, with climate change and large-scale deforestation threatening the existence of our biodiversity. For many of us, the pandemic changed our relationship with nature. It led to a growing appreciation of our gardens, allotments, woods, and public parks. Lockdowns, in particular, reminded us just how important access to nature is for our physical and mental wellbeing, underlining the value of protecting it.

The artworks in this exhibition all focus on trees, a plant form which sustains the existence of ourselves and other species. Dalziel + Scullion’s photographic series Unknown Pines, examines the bark surfaces of six different species of pine tree. Displayed alongside their film Imprint, these images allow viewers to tune in to our natural world. Their work strives to visualise aspects of our shared environment to re-evaluate our engagement with nature.

Based in the Cairngorms National Park, Naomi Mcintosh works primarily in wood. Her objects and installations investigate the passing of time, seasonality and the ever-present experience of nature. One of her artworks in the exhibition, Lost Song, a series of vessels made from charred wood, visually captures the bird song of five globally threatened species, which are in decline due to changes in agricultural practices and loss of habitat.

Andrew Mackenzie’s paintings start with an experience of a place encountered, during a walk or field trip. They combine architectural forms such as fencing and metal structures with organic vistas. The four works in Deep Rooted depict a woodland near the artist’s home, where trees were felled by storm Arwen in 2021.

Katie Paterson collaborates with scientists and researchers across the world for her projects, which consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change. Her artwork To Burn, Forest, Fire explores the scent of the ‘first-ever forest’ on Earth, and the scent of the ‘last forest’ in the age of the climate crisis through the creation of bespoke incense sticks. This sensory piece offers an intimate and intuitive experience that aims to transport participants through time as a reminder of the increasing levels of extinction caused by humanity.

The two photographs by Andy Goldsworthy capture ephemeral works made in nature, with the artist using his own body, as well as materials and conditions he encounters in a place. Goldsworthy sometimes spends hours photographing the changes that occur as a work responds to time, weather, decay, growth, light.

Anya Gallaccio is also known for creating ephemeral artworks, often using organic materials, which illustrate the fragile challenges of life cycles. She also employs more traditional materials as a means of pausing the effects of time and preserving living matter. Her work I can't get no comprises two holly twigs cast in bronze with red glass berries, a transformation that provides immunity from decay.

Meanwhile, Hanna Tuulikki’s artwork Under Forest Cover/ Metsänpeiton Alla, a surround sound audio and digital choreography, explores the Finnish folkloric concept of being caught in an enchanted landscape, where places become unfamiliar, and everything moves in reverse. Traditionally used to describe when people went missing, the folklore is reimagined by Tuulikki as a contemporary metaphor for the anxiety that comes with ecological awareness. This artwork has been generously supported by the Finnish Institute in the UK & Ireland.

Deep Rooted will be accompanied by an illustrated exhibition catalogue with an essay by writer and classical music and visual arts critic Sarah Urwin Jones. Alongside the exhibition there will be an extensive public events programme including four opportunities to experience the sensory artwork To Burn, Forest, Fire by Katie Paterson.

Curator Maeve Toal at the ‘Deep Rooted’ exhibition at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre. Image: Greg Macvean

Curator Maeve Toal commented: “Deep Rooted brings together work by eight artists, who explore the subject of human ecology. The artworks prompt us to consider our place on Earth and urge us to re-evaluate our actions, in a time of climate change and increased levels of extinction and deforestation caused by people. I hope that this exhibition will leave viewers with a renewed sense of their appreciation of nature, its beauty and importance. Doing nothing is no longer an option and to help fight this urgent climate crisis, we need to modify some of our deep-rooted behaviours.”

Dalziel + Scullion’s work ‘Unknown Pines’ at ‘Deep Rooted’ exhibition at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre. Image: Greg Macvean

Until 25 February 2024 | Free Entry

The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries, with a vibrant programme of exhibitions. It is also home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country, showcased in a series of changing displays.

Located in the heart of Edinburgh close to Waverley train station, the City Art Centre’s aim is to champion historic and contemporary Scottish visual and applied arts. Artworks from their nationally-recognised collection of Scottish art are displayed on a rotating basis. Visitors can also enjoy a richly diverse programme of changing exhibitions, which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photography, as well as contemporary art and craft.

An escalator and lift provide easy access to six floors, and the Centre also houses a shop on the ground floor. Admission is normally free, although charges apply for some temporary exhibitions. Mimi's Bakehouse is situated on the ground floor, open daily 9am-5pm (last sit ins at 4:30pm) offering coffee, cake and an all-day brunch menu.