Things Are Looking Up (through the leaves), oil on board, 40 x 30cm, 2022

Things Are Looking Up (through the leaves) was selected for the Society of Scottish Artists’ 124th Annual Exhibition. This exhibition, which took place at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh(17 December 2022 – 10 January 2023).

Created as part of ongoing painting research into the ways that the painting surface can function to draw attention to how a work is made, and how the ‘structures’ of painting and viewing processes can be explored. It exists as an important work within ongoing practice-based research.

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Produced via layering techniques, taking advantage of the properties of oil paint, its dilutants and extenders, Things Are Looking Up (through the leaves) acts as a ‘solid’ painted surface to ‘look through’. It is the notion, of a viewer being drawn toward a painted surface, then being able to see the ordered method of paint application, and then being offered supposed glimpses beyond that surface, that this work investigates. Research at the time of making focused on surface materialities and the potential within oil painting to attract, to ‘look through’, to make opaque and to obscure. This work resides in overarching investigations of slow viewing to understand looking at and looking through surfaces at the present time.

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Exhibition Text

In 1892 the Society of Scottish Artists held their first exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the inaugural Society of Scottish Artists exhibition. To celebrate, we are taking a unique look at its vibrant history, and showcasing a selection of works that have contributed to Scotland’s artistic culture. We are also exhibiting new works by artists from across Scotland that respond to these artworks from the past from contemporary perspectives.

The SSA Annual Exhibition is one of the largest contemporary art exhibitions in Scotland. The exhibition is produced and supported entirely by artists with no public funding and will take place at the Royal Scottish Academy from 17 December 2022 – 10 January 2023.