Viewing Room
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LOUISE SCOTT
5th - 27th September 2025
'Navigating New Spaces'
Copperplate etchings, collages and sculptures
'Navigating New Spaces'
Copperplate etchings, collages and sculptures
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Fine Adjustments, copper, vintage dividers and printed page, 24 x 18cm
Louise Scott is a Glasgow-based artist, well-known for her beguiling copper-plate etchings of Scottish wildlife and marine life. However, Lockdown in 2020-21 gave Louise the opportunity to re-evaluate the artistic direction of her work and this resulted in more experimental, unique prints formed from combinations of small etching plates, hand-embossing, hand-colouring and collage. This exhibition will feature her new, unique collages with etching - sometimes using etched copper plates and at other times making use of cut-outs from printed etchings.
Louise pushes the boundaries of printmaking into the realms of collage and sculpture. An artist’s residency on the Isle of Skye early in 2025 drove her to express her real concern for the wildlife affected by marine pollution in new work prepared for this exhibition. |
Inverness Mermen, original marine chart and copper, 71 x 120cm
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Gannet Crown, gannet skull, wood and fishing flotsam, 14 x 23 x 19cm
Louise, a bit like a magpie scavenger, gathers treasures from seashore flotsam and the natural environment and combines these with man-made objects found in junk shops and elsewhere. From these she creates collages and sculptures that draw us into the enchanting world of zoology and antique nautical maps. In a nod to the Japanese concept of ‘wabi-sabi’, her work celebrates imperfection and transience using bone shards, rusty metal and aged leaves from a book.
The work invites the viewer to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, and especially the small details that are often overlooked. |
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Stronsay Mermen, original marine chart and copper, 68 x 70cm
“Most of my life I have felt a deep connection to the natural world around me. As a teenager I collected skulls, bones, fur and feathers. I would make my father stop the car so that I could pick up road kills. This felt far from gruesome to me; it was a chance to see the miracle of natural form and pattern up close. For example, the tiny feathers that beautifully encircle a bird’s-eye, the small scales on a wren’s leg and the multitude of fine whiskers around a mouse’s nose.”
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Atlantic Voyage IV, monoprint and collage, 35 x 12.5cm - By the Moon, monoprint and collage, 50 x 15cm
Louise Scott gained a BA Hons in Printmaking from Cheltenham College of Art in 1986 and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Countryside Management at Bangor Normal College in 1988 and then spent many years working in the conservation field in Wales. Following this she worked at a bird observatory on Orkney and then opened the Inkstone Gallery in St Margaret’s Hope before moving to Glasgow in 2009. She is a member of the Glasgow Print Studio and the Glasgow Society of Women Artists.
An underwater encounter with a seal off Orkney and the gift of a prepared copper plate were the spark for Louise's distinctive wildlife and marine life etchings begun more than thirty years ago. Some of these popular limited edition etchings, many of which are nearly sold out, will also be available for sale.
An underwater encounter with a seal off Orkney and the gift of a prepared copper plate were the spark for Louise's distinctive wildlife and marine life etchings begun more than thirty years ago. Some of these popular limited edition etchings, many of which are nearly sold out, will also be available for sale.
A selection of Louise Scott's earlier limited etchings will also be available during this exhibition.