emerge : natural design

An exhibition of contemporary botanical illustration in pen and ink 

May 3 – 25 2024
Open Eye Gallery, 34 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh EH3 6QE
OPENING HOURS – Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5pm, Sat 11am to 4pm

Botanical artist, Marianne Hazlewood’s new work has roots in a few areas, emergent growth, pattern and plant architecture.

Marianne has been working with the exotic genus Arisaema for several years now. She plants them each spring and watch the tubers develop. Each species has a different botanical architecture, and the flowers, with their highly patterned spathes are among the strangest in the world.

Her work focuses on these aspects and is inspired by the plant photography of Karl Blossfeldt. She love’s the way he exploited symmetry, recurring structure and ‘natural design’, and she has been exploring this in the plants that she grows, capturing their own natural design in pen and ink illustrations.

She is endlessly fascinated with the silhouettes they form, their architecture and the patina. She wants to tell part of their story, and hers through these pieces. She hopes you will enjoy these aspects as much as she had in the making of these works.