I curated the Beyond Perception symposium exhibition held at SRUC in 2015.

The Beyond Perception exhibition brought together a collection of artists to imaginatively respond to the symposium themes through objects, drawings, paintings and mixed media installations. Its genesis is rooted in the interdisciplinary nature of Beyond Perception and the generative potential placed on the non-textual, the speculative and experiential. As fitting the diversity of themes discussed within the symposium, from human-animal relations to movement, becoming and growth, the Beyond Perception exhibition is wide ranging in its responses to these topics. None-the-less all share a common concern to offer a material rejoinder to the symposium’s subject matter, and whilst seemingly diverse in how this is approached, all ten artists brought together here do share similar sensibilities which unite the works presented. There is a shared stress on attentive observation, whether this is of the natural world and its patterning, or the placement of quotidian objects in relationship to others. The artists’ often exacting and poetic observations of the world are conveyed to the audience and the works focus our attention on our immediate surroundings, calling us to see it anew through their microscopic renderings. These shifts in scale are married with an interest in the morphology of the natural world. Organic forms inspire a creative response, whether they act as the surface upon which an artist makes further marks or through the recasting of motifs found within our environment. The work provides a means of engaging with the spaces around us, and moving on from this the ecological and political implications can be inferred. In many of the art works shown, how we engage with our lived environment is interwoven with more formal strategies such as the use of multiples. The affective, rhythmic potential of repetition is illuminated and art is a means of creating meaning through composite elements: an assembly or accumulation that then encompasses more than just the crafted object. This encourages a reading that is not merely autotelic but places art in a wider field of relations. Overall, the exhibition aims to be more than just the illustration of the writings and theoretical expositions offered over the course of the Beyond Perception symposium, and asks what thinking through the prism of art can bring to the our understanding of our research interests. This brings to light the value of the tentative and transitory to communicate and imagine. The ability for art to be transformative and offer a concrete means of realising and coming to know the world underlines what the exhibition hopes to achieve.

Exhibiting artists include: Beth Dynowski, Despina Nissiriou, Sally Taylor, Sarah Casey, Eloise Glover, Ray Lucas, Paulina Sandberg, Kjersti Sletteland, and Emily Joy