Our latest Viewing Room, Made at Castle Mills: Members Show 2020, showcases work by 40 members of the print studio. The prints selected for this Viewing Room were made in 2019 and 2020 and give a real sense of the work being created in the studio facilities we opened at Castle Mills in Spring 2019.
The showcase features Mary Walter’s RSA award winning Svalbard Mountain, inspired by concerns around climate change and the impact of global warming on the long-term future of the Arctic along with Lesley Logue’s playful Fancy, part of a series of works inspired by ornate decoration in historic homes.
There’s even a chance to create unique prints as one-off gifts this Christmas through Alison Grant’s For You.
Alison explained: “You will be sent instructions to record, in writing and voice, a message of your thoughts to whoever you feel is important to you. You will retain the voice recording while your written work, which is completely illegible to you or anyone else, will be returned to the artist and used to create a unique print of your written thoughts. The artist suggests allowing the recipient of the print to listen to the voice recording only once and then deleting it, retaining only the illegible written traces and the memory of your words in the form of the print. The unique print can be commissioned for in the colours of your choice to compliment your words.”
The current pandemic has had a huge impact on our members. In July 2020 we surveyed our entire creative community and we know that:
- 93% feel their ability to access studio space has been negatively impacted by the pandemic
- 54% feel their work has been extremely negatively impacted and 39% have suffered some negative impact
- 69% have reported a negative impact on their mental health
- 86% have suffered a negative impact because our facilities closed in lockdown
Our facilities and spaces play a vital social role as shared workplaces for our network of artists in Edinburgh and nationally. As part of our survey of the impact of COVID19 on our community, artists told us:
“It is a community of Printmakers who provide encouragement and support for my artistic practice as well as technical support. I can’t do printmaking anywhere else and it is an important part of my livelihood.”
“As an artist I need a studio to be able to create and continue my Practice. EP provides the spaces needed for creating but also an environment that feels like a workplace. More importantly, being in that environment and seeing others work encourages creativity and a sense of community.”
There’s never been a more important time to support artists and their work – and whether you’re an established collector or buying your first print we hope you’ll enjoy exploring the works we’ve chosen.
The Viewing Room has been made possible through the support of the National Heritage Lottery’s Emergency Fund to EP and the support of the William Syson Foundation.
