Across two exhibitions at Edinburgh Printmakers, Susan Aldworth brings to life themes of identity, immigration, and experimentation, spanning across mediums and experimenting with the intersections between science and art.
The first exhibition, ‘Belongings’ features an immersive print and textile work that chronicles the life of the artist’s grandmother, Luigia, who migrated from Italy to the UK with her infant daughter in 1924. ‘Belongings’ is a result of 3 years of conversations with family members and research into Luigia’s life in Britain, which resulted in Aldworth’s work of 35 pieces of antique children’s clothing, imagining the contents of Luigia’s suitcase as she made her journey to Britain. Adorned with prints of family photographs and intricate embroidery, the garments are draped from the ceiling of the gallery, inviting viewers to weave between them as they chart Luigia’s journey.
Aldworth vibrantly brings Luigia’s story to life through family photographs, memories of Italy and England, recipes, and other fragments from the Italian diaspora. Luigia’s night dress is at the centre of the work, passed down through generations of Aldworth’s family and adorned with a portrait of Luigia in a halo of embroidered gold. The work is absorbing and moving, paying homage to the legacy of this story on the generations that followed it. In the corner of the gallery, Aldworth invites visitors to reflect upon and share how the work can help us reframe how we think about immigration in Britain today. At a time when the dehumanisation of immigrant communities is on the rise, her visualisation of the human stories of love, loss, persecution, and perseverance behind stories of migration is an urgent reminder of the need to resist dehumanising narratives and create welcoming environments.
Upstairs, a second exhibition titled ‘Modern Alchemy’ presents a different side to Aldworth’s work. The outcome of a collaboration with University of Edinburgh chemist Dr Amanda Jarvis. Aldworth displays a series of lithograph prints made in Jarvis’ laboratory, where she works on developing a more sustainable form of catalytic chemistry. These prints are experimental, incorporating chemical compounds mixed by Jarvis into the printing process to create unexpected and spontaneous images, abstract, energetic forms bursting through the black base of each print. The prints make visible the almost magical processes that take place in chemical reactions, and display the creative possibilities of artistic and scientific collaboration. The exhibition extends back into Aldsworth’s catalogue of work with science, including prints made while she was artist in residence at the Royal London Hospital’s neuroscience department, attempting to capture the complexities of the human mind. Both exhibitions are engaging and thought-provoking, a testament to how art can make visible the invisible, and encourage new ways of thinking about and engaging with the world.
‘Belongings’ and ‘Modern Alchemy’ are free to view at Edinburgh Printmakers until 28th June.
Photography by Alan Dimmick provided by Edinburgh Printmakers for The Student
