Gordon Brennan, hosted by Mentone Avenue @ Mentone Avenue

Known for his work with artists’ books informed by the built environment Gordon’s sculptures are formal architectural/archaeological constructions in cast concrete.

Title of work - Archaeology

These works are generated from investigations into aspects of architecture, archaeology and a love of ruins.

They form a part of a larger body of work that explores the relationships of narrative and collecting within the realms of daily observations and reflection. They are elements and details of simple building blocks that go towards creating a deeper understanding our relationship with the shape and form of the spaces we inhabit.

Jessica Harrison, hosted by Rona Gray @ Bath Street

The main focus of Jessica’s research is a personal obsession with fear that generates the surreal, sinister and sometimes comical juxtapositions in her drawings and sculpture. The work in the exhibition consists of resin wax and mixed media.

Title of work - Floral displays

The eye, mouth and skin are tokens of a reflexive boundary in our existence, the points at which we establish life or death; the blink of an eye or the shrinking of a pupil, the breath exhaled from the mouth against a feather or a mirror, the cold or warm touch of skin. These are the points on which we hang our experience of embodiment, loading them with semiotic meaning and association. I use these physical elements in the work to explore how our response to the world is channelled through the body, with our construction of knowledge deeply rooted in a sense of touch.

www.jessicaharrison.co.uk

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Natalie Taylor, hosted by the Towerbank Primary School

Natalie Taylor has been incorporating living plants into mechanical or systematic structures since 1998. Recently she has been creating large-scale growing artworks for outdoor sites, both in Edinburgh and Finland. Time-based aspects of her work include live piano performances of music fashioned from Mustard seed formations and slow motion films of seeds growing into musical compositions.

Title of work - The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden: A subtle intervention within a ‘wild’ garden exploring our relationship with seeds and clones.

This garden nestled within the play area of TowerBank Primary School nurtures secrets usually hidden from the human eye. Most of the true miracles of Nature occur in dark hidden places. Seed germination, fertilization and initial growth all occur best out of the glare of light. How have we intervened in the history of cross-fertilization, breeding and genetic diversity to arrive at our own sources of nourishment? How much of Nature’s bounty is actually left untouched?

www.nataliejtaylor.com

www.edinburghsculpture.org/artists

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Lorna Fraser, hosted by Robert Pickles & Joan Birse @ Bath Street

The inspiration for Lorna’s work comes from her love of gardens and gardening. The aesthetic appeal of plant life provides her with an absorbing array of ideas. Lorna explores the sculptural quality of plants whilst also trying to capture their vulnerability and sensuality. Each individual piece is hand built in white earthenware clay and finished with a matte white glaze.

Title of work - Whitehouse

My work may not immediately appear to be a piece of art… however all is not what it seems. On closer inspection I hope that the curiosity of the viewer is rewarded by the surprise that the “plants” filling the greenhouse are in fact, white porcelain.

I am inspired by the structure of plant forms and I aim to capture the sculptural quality of plants whilst also reflecting their fragility, sensuality and vulnerability.

The works are deliberately devoid of colour, accentuating their statuesque quality – the whiteness evoking a feeling of something ghostly or dreamlike.

www.lornafraser.co.uk

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Rocca Gutteridge, hosted by the McMillan Family @ Mentone Avenue

The work consists of a fun park arcade game captured on DVD/Projector with an added sound element. The work will be displayed within a purpose build structure.

Title of work - Money Splash

Money Splash was filmed and recorded at Portobello seafront. After leisurely strolling along the shore I entered the ‘Fun Park’ arcade to become immersed by an over stimulated, manic and frenzied environment.

After sometime however, the room began to contain strong similarities with the outside environment. The constant hum of the machines became calming, reassuring perhaps, the constant blinking lights entertaining, energy boosting, reminiscent of the sun.

Through sound and image Money Splash combines the vibrant swell of golden penny coins with the crash of waves as they noisily break against the shore.

www.roccagutteridge.co.uk

Holger Mohaupt, hosted by the Lavender Family @ Straiton Place

In his work Holger is interested in the phenomena of cultural routines. 'The Every Day' and 'The Ordinary' are the parameters for his work. His photographic and video art work portray the mechanics of daily life from an unusual perspective.

Title of work - A Sketch of History

‘Furzy Waste’ was a phrase used to describe Figgate Whins the name for a settlement near Edinburgh before it became Portobello, ‘differing from a desert only in the presence of one human dwelling’.

The installation is a joined manifestation of local history and the definition of garden as ‘a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials’.

www.room8.org

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