In celebration of Inverness Creative Academy’s fifth year, Wasps is hosting a group exhibition of works made by artists with a connection to the history of the landmark and the creative community that has been built there.
Colour, materiality and the joy of creating is the thread linking the three individualistic, past and present, GSA Dentist, Surveyor and Business Consultant artists together.
Niketa Shetty is an Indian-born British artist who lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
Niketa received her undergraduate degree in Painting and Printmaking (2021) and her MLitt Painting, Drawing and Print Media degree (2023) from the Glasgow School of Art. Niketa is at present pursuing a full-time practice-led PhD at the Glasgow School of Art, School of Design and is currently in her second year of research.
Her artistic practice is interdisciplinary, spanning a wide range of mediums that include painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and installation art. Niketa’s work defies conventional boundaries, striving to merge the realms and transformation of art, craft, and design, creating a vibrant and multifaceted body of work that engages with various forms of creative expression.
Niketa’s work is held in private collections.
————————————————————————————
Veronica Mee takes inspiration from the Arte Povera Movement and the textile artists Bisa Butler and Shelia Hicks, Veronica’s work explores perception on both a human and societal level. Using both conventional and unorthodox materials; paint, fabric scraps, paper, rope and threads, her work aims to explore the boundaries we place on ourselves and others, questioning the narrative society can impose. What is craft? What is art? What is simply functional and unaesthetic, and what is superfluous but beautiful? And who decides?
Born and based in Glasgow, Veronica has worked as a NHS dentist for the last 30 years and is due to start her final year in painting and printmaking at Glasgow School of Art this September.
—————————————————————————————
Irene Buchan graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2024 with a First Class honours degree in Fine Art (Painting & Printmaking). Winner of the SSA New Graduate Award and exhibition invitee to the RSA Edinburgh in November/December 2024.
The origins of the work stems from her early experience as the only female surveyor on a construction site and blatant sexist behaviour of male co-workers.
Her current works are a component of a series in which body forms—male, female, phallic, pregnant belly, androgynous, fluid, and non-binary—are portrayed through the creation of slip-clay ceramics and other softer materials using an inverse cast of the original urinal cast.
Other works are based on memories of childhood, fragility and absence. Alternating between the two areas with the use of humour or oddness in some of the work all the while exploring the body through material play and form.
Comfort Me is a joint exhibition by Hazel Frost and Selma Augestad. Through clay, textile and drawing, the exhibition reflects on undesirable expressions of emotions testing the conditionality of love.
‘Comfort me’ is both a provocation and a plea.
A dare – to love, when it is inconvenient, ugly and dark.
If it’s easy, it means nothing.
Selma and Hazel would like to invite you to the private view of the exhibition on the evening of 13 September at South Block, 6pm-8pm.
Hazel Frost is a visual artist, specialising in ceramics. Using clay as a language to respond to the environment, Frost explores relationships and nature through form and texture. Creating objects that sit between functional domestic ware and sculptural expression.
Selma Augestad is a Norwegian visual artist based in Scotland. Through a practice of untangling and interpreting personal memories, Selma explores wider social themes with influence from mythology and rituals, as sites of connection, struggle and liberation.
This exhibition seeks to engage in a dialogue about our relationships within the ecosystems that sustain us, to create space for contemplation and connection.
In the title work in We Are Ocean, the earth, borderless as befits a waterlogged world, reaches out beyond itself to the cosmos of which it is a part, to the stars, chiming with the seasons in their solstice alignment, to the sun, from which it draws both heat and light, and to the moon which draws its tides. Grant’s mapping is based on a Spilhaus projection centred on the Antarctic, making the seven seas one great ocean, pulsing with power and teeming with life. Engraved on a reclaimed mirror, Grant’s Ocean, so often rendered featureless and inert on conventional maps, reveals instead the face of the viewer gazing back, reminding us that we are indeed made who we are by the ocean’s shaping and creative power, that the oxygen and water that cycles through the seas is present in every breath we take. Reflections and echoes permeate Grant’s work, of land and sea, winter and spring, the human and non-human, of the material earth on which we live and the cultural world in which we dwell, seeming binaries which resolve themselves in a dynamic planetary system whose ceaseless motion is driven by the surge and churn of the seas, becoming there like the systole, diastole of that oceanic flow. Algal inks and seaweed and shells, the gifts gathered on beachcombing expeditions, proliferate, never seen by Grant as mere passive materials, but as endowed with the same shaping power of the ocean itself, as actors in the drama of her work, perhaps not playing a role of their own devising, but playing it their own way.
Tokes Sharif also turns to the oceans for inspiration, his pots following the forms of frond and stipe and calcareous growth until, like amphorae salvaged from ancient shipwrecks, they seem barnacled over by time, as though they already anticipate their own sea-change. Sharif incorporates oystershells directly into his work and experiments with seaweed ash glazes, and with restricted firing techniques which, while they relinquish a degree of control over the finish and frustrate efforts at flawless execution, do allow the fullest possible expression to the mineral content of the clay. His work is invitingly tactile, with a deeply satisfying heft and volume, and hugely desirable, though their particularity resists the commodification of that desire: Sharif’s pots are a quiet revolt against ideal form.
Alison Grant’s oysters are not representations of oysters, but oysters representing; Sharif’s pots are not acheiropoieta, not made by human hands, but they are not made only by human hands. In We Are Ocean, Grant and Sharif are feeling their way towards a way of working which might also suggest a way of living in these environmentally destitute times, towards a poetics of reciprocity.
ALISON GRANT
My work explores the delicate balance and intricate beauty found in our world. By observing and capturing these elements I aim to convey the balance I feel of awe – inspiring power and fragility.
I aim to create space for contemplation, introspection and connection by engaging viewers in a dialogue about our relationship with our home and find a deeper understanding of our place within the ecosystems that sustain us.
My creative process includes many media to best express the ideas I am working with, often collaborating directly with natural forces and biotic and abiotic materials including, flowing water, snow, wind, breath, plants, and muds to make artworks grounded in significant times and places.
Alison Grant is a visual artist and community facilitator based in Edinburgh, her work explores ways to create space for contemplation, introspection, connection and dialogue with our home and our place and relationships with the ecosystems that sustain us.
Recent projects include 11,000 miles an Ocean facing research project supported by a Creative Scotland Award and Drawing Down the Sun a community model for climate agency and creativity. Previous solo exhibitions include Stone Moon a collaboration with poet Fiona Sampson MBE shown at the Scottish Poetry Library and the Wigtown Book Festival in 2022. No Ruined Stones shown in Wiltshire and online in the virtual Art North Exhibition 2020 and The Shape of Time and Suspended Shadows shown with the Warburton Gallery Edinburgh.
TOKES SHARIF
Tokes Sharif handcrafts sculptural and functional objects using clay incorporating local and foraged materials. Each piece is mindfully fashioned, in small batches, into iconic and timeless forms influenced by archeology and nature. The use of a limited palette of neutral and earthy tones coupled with stony and matte textures draws inspiration from Scottish landscapes. This deliberate choice of aesthetics is to allow a deeper and reflective connection to nature anchored through the practical use of the pieces and thus enhancing the wellbeing of the recipient.
Patricia Paolozzi Cain is the latest recipient of the RSA x Wasps Award. Taking nature as her starting point, Paolozzi Cain presents a series of work that speaks to the invisible process of reconciling opposites.
The exhibition, Opposition and Fellowship, is a phrase taken from Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the ancient Chinese book I-Ching, which presents a series of work that speaks to the invisible process of reconciling opposites.
The I-Ching talks about locating the proper position between oneself and the surrounding world and at the same time cultivating an attitude that intends to guide us towards balance and harmony.
With nature as my starting point, I use intuitive processes of drawing, painting and modelling, to help visualise the interdependence that exists between the external world and the internal mind.
I try to follow myself when making art. Not maintaining a fixed state, I try to flow with the changing conditions and environments, always moving and adapting as I go. There are always opportunities for re-aligning one’s own position – a reminder of the ‘uncarved block’.
When I look at what I’ve made, I’m interested in knowing more generally whether there is some sort of spiritual aesthetic made visible in the spatial contents of my work.
My art practice lies at the intersection of cognition and internal contemplative practice. I currently focus on nature as a gateway to the internal mind, and am interested in ideas concerning beauty as a deeper aesthetic, contemplative pedagogy, heart learning and cognitive diversity. Sharing the thinking behind my art is an important part of my creative process. Through self-contextualisation and self-curation, I am able to make my thinking process visible, and this is often part of my artwork. My style of working has chronologically developed through projects that have encompassed artworks relating to residencies, conferences and writings.
Book spots for Patricia’s accompanying events in Glasgow through the Wasps Eventbrite: In Conversation: Ronnie Forbes RSA and Patricia Paolozzi Cain (12 Sept) and Deep Thinking and Creative Practice: A Symposium (24 Sept).
probably never sure includes drawings Patrick has made in the past year as part of his daily practice of repeatedly drawing the same subjects.
In his practice, Patrick repeatedly draws subjects that he knows well and sees daily, acknowledging that the subject is constantly changing as is he; with his approach and perception of reality.
He is interested in learning how to ‘navigate’ the structure of a form in a way that speaks of the vitality of momentary experience.
Although small, each of his drawings is the end result of an incredibly intense experience, and comes after many, many preceding attempts. He finds it incredibly difficult to get a drawing that feels worth keeping, like a revelation, like a moment.
probably never sure is a show of drawings made in the past year, including self-portraits, drawings of his dogs, and views of the landscape between Tullybelton and Little Glenshee; places he has recently passed while out running. Accompanying the drawings are handwritten poems about the experience of making each drawing. Looking at his reflection, for hours, trying to get a self portrait that feels like a revelation. Cycling miles to a spot where he has been drawing and then having to contend with overconfident flies and burning sun. Drawing Millie, one of his dogs, when his parents and his other dog were away for a few days. Drawing from an old photograph of him and his brother at Little Glenshee when they were young. The poems are nearly illegible because of the handwriting, but they represent Patrick trying to make a piece of writing in the same way that he makes his drawings: attempt after attempt after attempt leading to one that feels worth keeping.
Patrick Mitchell graduated with a first-class Honours degree in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2022; and completed a Drawing MFA also at Duncan of Jordanstone in 2023, receiving a Masters degree with merit. He was longlisted for the Scottish Portrait Awards in 2022, and longlisted for the Jacksons Art Prize this year. In his practice, he repeatedly draws and paints subjects that he experiences daily.
A show of new prints exploring the relationship between municipal spaces, council-built environments, public spaces and the creatures that live and are exhibited in them.
As a child, Diane was one of the so-called ‘Glasgow overspill’, moving from her Glasgow home to a new town at the start of her secondary school years. In her early career she worked for several local authorities, often organising cultural events in parks, before attending Glasgow School of Art in 2006. Many years later she finds that she is still drawn to the themes form those early years. This exhibition gives a platform to Diane’s reflexive experience where she is curious about her feelings, reactions, and associations concerning the relationship between municipal spaces, council-built environments, public spaces and the creatures that live and are exhibited in them.
The focus for this work is on Parks as provided public spaces for free-play, health, events and recreation. When asked about her own experience of Parks as a child in the 1970s she fondly described them as ‘over-staffed and over strict’, not something that could be said in 2024. She also remembers Parks as places of celebration and belonging, and the motifs she uses in her work manage to convey this appreciation and joy. At the same time there are endearing but also disquieting images of creatures which have been given space or a home in park spaces but may be out of place.
In this exhibition of works in progress, Diane introduces a new series of reflections on the theme of Parks where she has experimented with different printing techniques and materials, specifically the use of glass, mirrors, layers and light sources. The choice of materials and adaptations to printing technique speaks directly to this new phase of work where Diane is exploring the relationship and the differences between the surface detail, often nothing more than a reflection, and the depth of the municipal experience.
Diane Dawson is a mid-career artist, who primarily works in painting and printmaking. Her subjects are usually creatures in environments, and the relationships that have been altered by humans. Throughout her work she finds the individual spark of personality, colour and optimism, against otherwise troubling or perplexing backgrounds.
Diane uses her paintings to find and engage with her themes and then employs the screen printing process to develop the concepts. For her, the detail and technical quality of the prints are a way of respecting the creatures and the possibilities they bring to the work, both as motifs and character actors in a fabricated narrative.
The viewer is invited to both reflect on our shared environmental responsibility and the individual spark of optimism that may be required to survive and change.
Diane is a graduate of Fine Art Painting & Printmaking from Glasgow School of Art, and since 2010, has maintained a studio practice with both WASPS and Glasgow Print Studio.
A punchy small show curated by Scott Lawrie, inspired by the writings of the late British theorist Mark Fisher, exploring the effects of late stage capitalism on the arts.
This show was inspired by the writings of British theorist, philosopher, music-critic, blogger, and writer, Mark Fisher – in particular his influential book Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?
Visitors don’t need to be familiar with the concept of capitalist realism to engage with this show, nor read the book – they can just enjoy a small selection of outstanding contemporary work by interesting artists from around the world. I’ve chosen robust works which hold their own in the space between my questions, and Fisher’s landmark book, so anyone can dive a bit deeper if they wish into the why underneath the what in the accompanying illustrated essay which is written for young people in particular.
At the nub of it, Fisher’s slim volume questions the enduring unfairness of life under the economic and philosophical system that we know as capitalism – but does it in a way that steers away from tired old political, economic, and cultural legacy tropes, and populist pro-Capital whataboutery. Despite the death of political communism and the new neoliberal order which replaced it in the 1980s, Fisher demonstrates, with a mix of intellectual rigour and quirky humour, that capitalism remains our default setting even now; a phenomenon that you can’t necessarily see, but feel every day in its pervasive dampening across every aspect of our lives.
For this project, I first wanted to apply Fisher’s ideas onto the structures inherent within the art world. By the ‘art world’ I really mean the current systematic processes and powerful influences which essentially control it; from the ‘blue chip’ galleries and institutions such as public galleries and museums, to the wealthy benefactors, brands, and cultural forces which surround it. How art is made, seen, experienced, challenged, and debated is, after all, dependent on an honest reflection of the cultural conditions from within which it’s created. In addition, I wanted to choose a selection of powerful artworks and artists whose work aligned to, or contrasted with, similar conceptual themes in Fisher’s book; Patricia Piccinini on technology and ethics, Félix González- Torres on institutional boundaries (what is an artwork? And who ‘owns’ it?), Benjamin Aitken on medicalisation and mental health, Rebecca Wallis on concepts of the sublime, and Jamie Chapman on the space between binary polemics.
The choice of venue is entirely deliberate. It was important that the site of these conversations between artist and viewer took place outside the walls of a typical art institution. By positioning the show in a working-class area of the city, in a beautifully renovated WASPS building which has a proud working-class history as the railway station for the workers at Granton Gasworks, it consciously occupies a ‘non-institutional’ space –making it an exciting venue to experience works of this stature.
Patricia Piccinini (Australia)
Patricia Piccinini, born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and later moving to Australia, is an internationally acclaimed artist known for her hyper-realistic sculptures that explore the intersections of nature, science, and technology. Her work often delves into the ethical implications of genetic engineering and biotechnology, creating hybrid creatures that challenge viewers’ perceptions of the natural world. Piccinini’s notable exhibitions include being the official Australian representative at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003, and over 120 major international institutional shows, including her acclaimed retrospective “Curious Affection” at the Queensland Art Gallery in 2018. Piccinini’s art is characterized by its meticulous detail and emotional depth, blending fantastical elements with a profound sense of humanity. She has received numerous awards and honours, including the Art and Australia/Credit Suisse Contemporary Art Award in 2014. Her works are held in major collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Australia, solidifying her position as a leading figure in contemporary art. Her show, “ComCiência” in Brazil (2015) set new attendance records at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil (CCBB) in São Paulo, attracting just under 450,000 visitors.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres (USA)
Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) was a Cuban-born American artist renowned for his minimalist and conceptual works that often address themes of love, loss, and the passage of time. His art frequently incorporates everyday materials such as candy, clocks, and lightbulbs, transforming them into poignant and deeply personal installations. One of his most famous works, “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), uses a pile of candy to represent the weight of his partner, who died of AIDS, inviting viewers to take a piece and thus participate in the gradual disappearance of the work. Gonzalez-Torres’s work has been exhibited in major institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Venice Biennale. His art continues to resonate deeply with audiences and has had a lasting impact on the contemporary art world. He was posthumously awarded the International Award at the Venice Biennale in 2007, and his work remains a powerful commentary on the personal and political issues of his – and our – time.
Jamie Chapman (New Zealand)
Jamie Chapman is a young contemporary artist from New Zealand known for his evocative but subtle political paintings. His work often explores the relationship between representation and binary politics, creating thought-provoking pieces that challenge viewers’ perceptions. He is represented by Foenander Gallery in Auckland. Jamie will show with Scott Lawrie Gallery with a solo presentation (his first international show) in Edinburgh late 2024. Chapman’s work is featured in several public and private collections, including the Wallace Collection.
Benjamin Aitken (Australia)
Benjamin Aitken, born in 1985, is a contemporary artist from Melbourne, Australia, known for his vibrant and expressive paintings. His work often features a mix of figurative and abstract elements, exploring themes of identity, memory, and the human experience—particularly concerning drug use, prison, and addiction. Aitken’s bold use of colour and dynamic compositions have garnered attention in the Australian and international art scene, leading to several solo exhibitions. He was a double finalist in the Archibald Prize at the AGNSW, and a finalist of the John Sulman Portrait Prize in 2020. Aitken is also the co-founder of the artist-run initiative “Nicholas Projects,” which provides a platform for experimental and innovative art practices. His contributions to the art community extend beyond his personal practice, supporting and promoting fellow artists. Aitken’s work is held in various private and public collections, and he continues to be a significant presence in contemporary Australian art, pushing the boundaries of traditional painting.
Rebecca Wallis (UK/New Zealand)
Rebecca Wallis is a UK-born, New Zealand-based artist known for her innovative and theoretical approach to painting. Her work often explores themes of perception, memory, and abjection, utilizing a unique technique that involves the layering of transparent materials, and a ‘non-intervention’ technique. Wallis’s paintings are marked by their ethereal quality, creating a sense of depth and movement that draws viewers into the eternal tensions between symbolism and reality. Wallis has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and internationally, with notable shows including her three sell-out solo exhibitions at Scott Lawrie Gallery in Auckland and a solo presentation at Aotearoa Art Fair. Her work has been featured in various art publications.
Artists @ Patriothall is a selling exhibition of work by professional artists based at Patriothall Studios. The show includes a range of artwork – painting, photography, print, ceramics, jewellery, mosaic and tapestry – and is run by studio artists, many with national and international profiles.
Patriothall Studios is one of Edinburgh’s longest running studio complexes and incorporates a unique, industrial style, gallery in the centre of Stockbridge.
Join artists for their Open Studios event on the final weekend Sat and visit their creative working spaces, 11am-5pm on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August.
Meet the artists and view their work on Instagram: @patriothallopenstudios.
Presenting abstract oil paintings from the past five years, this exhibition offers an encounter with the oppositional ideas of otherworldliness and functionality painted in harmony.
Many of these paintings relate to Lake Michigan, Chicago. As a visitor to the unimaginably vast expanse of fresh water that is Lake Michigan, I was left with an indelible memory of the strange, almost alien force encompassed by and contained within. An unbroken horizon wider than the field of vision, contradicts the idea of a lake. The lack of tides and the fresh water defy the notion of a Sea. Like all bodies of water, its colours are defined by the weather, but Lake Michigan has its own innumerably subtle shades that as a painter, I’m challenged to produce in my work. The ‘cribs’, historic buildings dotting the lake are further mysteries that on investigation turn out to be water intakes, surrounding and protecting, collecting and supplying fresh water to the City of Chicago and its suburbs – 9 million people – water that is pumped through tunnels built in the 1900s beneath the lake, an awe inspiring engineering feat. Circular and oval tunnels located 200 feet beneath the lake, up to 20 feet in diameter, carry water from the cribs to onshore pumping stations and purification plants.
A selection of these paintings result from my encounter with this body of water. They show aspects of the lake symbolically, the oppositional ideas of otherworldliness and functionality painted in harmony. The power contained and its potential force expressed in paint reveal a contradiction to the usual placid appearance of the lake. The beautiful colours, the transparency and variety of tone combine, comprising an edgeless mass of subtle movement and force contained within unseen boundaries. On looking away from the hypnotic horizon, the view becomes industrial, steelworks hazily peeping up in the distance behind the shining cityscape of contemporary skyscrapers dominating the shoreline. The Lake Michigan paintings embody my personal response with an aesthetic consideration for the sublime. Other paintings have been selected from the artist’s recent work and these represent the further development of ideas and thoughts that have grown from the same source.
Educated at the University of Reading, Rowena Comrie has used the aesthetics of colourfield and abstract expressionism as potent means of communicating feelings and ideas. This limitless aesthetic opens up free association that can stimulate the viewer’s imagination ‘beyond space & time’ to explore feelings untouched by conventional attitudes. Working from her studio in Glasgow, she continues to capture fleeting visions that arrive from long developed ideas. Her method requires a spontaneous and energetic means of paint application tempered by an objective assessment of chance occurrences, known to surrealists as ‘Objective Chance’.
Rowena spent her youth in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and those seaside years left a lasting love of coastal environments, sublime horizons and infinite skies. She has now been based in Glasgow for 13 years having previously spent 20 years in Aberdeen. Appreciative of the varieties of natural forces in both East and West coastlines, Rowena finds in the constant movement of the seas and weather, an ironic sense of change and permanence. This contradiction symbolises Rowena’s attitude to painting – a feeling for the paradoxical. Making the real and the abstract resonate with ideas and feelings.
Recent career developments include Co-chairing Art Paisley Ltd (The Big Art Show) 2022-24; in 2022 designing and collaborative painting of the Iron Heart & Public Health Mural at the former Malcolm Cockburn Foundry, Falkirk; President of Paisley Art Institute 2020-21, Current Satellite Council Member of the Society of Scottish Artists, from 2020. President of the Scottish Artist Union 2011-2014. Rowena has exhibited regularly in the USA and throughout the UK, in 2019 presenting ‘NEW VIEWS OF THE OLD WORLD’, in Bloomington, Indiana. Her work is held by Museum and private collections; She has been involved in mentoring, curating, education, and art workshops. Awards include professional development funding from Creative Scotland, and in support of ‘Beyond Forever’, a grant from the Hope Scott Trust as well as practical assistance from Wasps Artists Studios. She has received prizes from various institutions including Paisley Art Institute and Aberdeen Artists Society.
