We were delighted to be approached by graduating MA Art, Space and Nature student from the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA), Audrey Yeo.
Audrey presented a botanical glimpse as a part of the ECA Degree Show 2019 which ran from 1 to 9 June in the Tent Gallery at Evolution House in Edinburgh.
Audrey describes her work as “an avenue for me to continuously put into question my human-centred perspective of the world. My work process is often inspired from the crossing between the art and sciences. In a botanical glimpse, the piece attempts to explore making sense of the world around us and to draw attention to our co-existence with often overlooked ecological entities.”
In the initial stages, Audrey spent time with RBGE Research Associate Heather McHaffie. Together they conducted fieldwork in the open grassland of The Meadows, surrounded by the urban sprawl Edinburgh. They sampled an area of 0.07m2, collecting and then identifying the plants they found.
Audrey cast key parts of the plants in resin. She explains “This immortalised, encapsulated form echoes the limitations of just relying on the present-day sense systems – emphasizing the way we often separate ourselves when observing what is around us. “
Audrey created a theatrical setting for the piece. Viewers enter into a small, carefully lit space. The look is profoundly reminiscent of the Herbarium, suggestive of the cabinets she opened, to see dried pressed specimens of the botanical plant names she collected. The plant names in the show reflect the aged look of herbarium labels on reference specimens which are also preserved in time, collected from many Scottish locations and spanning over 200 years.
Through the finished work, Audrey attempted “to reconcile and put into question the outcome of such an approach i.e. western scientific methods and the role of cultural institutions, in our perception and relationship with the world around us. Having the opportunity to access the resources in the Herbarium played an important part of the my research and inspiration process.“
You can follow Audrey on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/a.wayfaringsoul/
and view her website https://audreyyeo.weebly.com/
Posted by Lesley Scott