Rosie Lesso

I am an artist, writer and editor based in Scotland. I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a BA in Drawing and Painting, and an MA in Contemporary Art and Art Theory. My art practice is rooted in the exploration of the landscape through a contemporary lens, which I explore through processes of photography, collage, digital manipulation, drawing, and most recently printmaking. 

I am particularly fascinated by the concept of the aesthetic sublime in relation to the landscape as outlined by Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant, and the emotions of awe, fear, terror and wonder they describe. Through my practice I aim to create idealised, inhospitable landscapes that mesh together differing elements from some of the wildest and most dangerous places. Yet I am also interested in retaining a ‘cut-and-paste’ appearance, a reminder that these elements of water, mountain, sky and land are two-dimensional, abstract sources. 

I began screen printing at Edinburgh Printmakers roughly a year ago after completing an evening course, and have really enjoyed experimenting with the vast range of possibilities the process can offer. I am particularly interested in the ways digital and hand-made marking-making can be layered over one another to create visually complex images, and how blends can recreate the atmospheric effects of the landscape. I still have a lot to learn!