mainly in sinuosities, Edinburgh Art Festival, 2022
The printwork Mainly in Sinuousities meanders from the present to the past, considering all kinds of movements, migrations and change over time. A map created in consultation with botanist Greg Kenicer, encourages people to navigate the Union Canal through its flowers, and considers the ways in which plants have, historically, been used – including medicinal, practical, and folkloric purposes. Some old Scots language names for many of the plants are also given. Excerpts from the New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845) serve to show how the landscapes around the canal have changed in its 200 year history.
An essay, in 31½ parts, draws on a variety of sources including old maps and articles from 19th Century newspapers, to explore the canal's construction, its relationship to the city and the changing environments it has witnessed.
This print work is accompanied by five plaques along the Union Canal at different points of interest between Lochrin Basin and Wester Hailes. Audiences are asked to take a walk along the Canal, encountering accounts from sources including The New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845), Ordance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882) and The Scotsman (1818) that speak to the geographies, architecture, bird life and etymology of the waterway.