Emma Critchley: Soundings
a-n member Emma Critchley’s solo exhibition takes us underwater, to explore the urgent and complex issue of deep sea mining. Combining filmmaking, choreography and public engagement, Critchley’s work highlights this looming ecological threat, prompting us to think about how we imagine and discuss the deep sea.
Soundings includes a three-screen film which considers the nuanced debates around commercial deep sea mining of minerals. The film moves between landscapes, soundscapes and voices, from an intimate encounter between a dancer and a deep sea creature to ancient stories about our innate connection to the oceans.
8 February – 3 May 2025, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton jhg.art
Artists’ Bookmarket 2025
Edinburgh’s annual celebration of art publishing showcases a wide array of books, publications and print, alongside a packed programme of talks and creative workshops.
Several a-n members take part. Among the exhibitors are David Armes, who works primarily with letterpress printing; Felicity Bristow, who makes artist books, screen and lino prints; and Julie Johnstone, who creates artists’ books and installations that explore visual perception.
Edinburgh-based printmaker Susie Wilson leads a workshop making paper works inspired by the cassette player; Leeds-based artist Ciarrai Samson will show you how to make two books using Japanese papers and bookbinding techniques; while Northumberland-based Sarah Morpeth will guide you through paper cutting techniques.
15-16 February 2025, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh fruitmarket.co.uk
Vital Signs: another world is possible
A new commission by London-based a-n member Gayle Chong Kwan features in this exhibition, which brings together artists, designers and researchers to explore how the human health and that of the natural world are intimately connected.
I am the Thames and the Thames is me explores the historic, bodily and ecological connections between the River Thames and human waste. Chong Kwan’s sculptures, which include mythical creatures that she calls ‘river guardians’, are made of hand-dyed fabric, wood, reclaimed sewer pipes, chamber pots decorated with sewage ash slip and jewellery made from sewage aggregate. The fabrics are patterned with techniques such as tie-dyeing with bio-waste from London sewage, and the artist’s urine – an ingredient historically used in fabric dyeing.
Until 16 May 2025, Science Gallery London london.sciencegallery.com
Made in the Middle
Drawing together 37 artists, this exhibition showcases the breadth of contemporary crafts currently being made across the Midlands and features several a-n members.
Shropshire-based artist Halima Cassell combines strong geometry, with repeating patterns and architectural principles in her ceramic, wood, concrete and metal sculptures.
Birmingham-based member Roo Dhissou’s contribution is the sculpture Biscot Wali Manji which features woven cotton on a wooden frame. Dhissou explained more about the work in an Instagram post: “Inspired by the infamous Parle-G biscuit, this artwork takes two household staples, the charpai (or as we called them in Punjab, Manji) and the Parle-G Biscuit, celebrating the mundane through an ancient indigenous craft practice of woven desi furniture.”
Until 22 March 2025, Leicester Gallery, De Montfort University, Leicester craftspace.co.uk
Urgencies
This group exhibition offers a snapshot of the artistic concerns of 13 early career artists, who are all based in or connected to Northern Ireland. Among those selected by open call is Glasgow-based a-n member Katrina Cobain. Cobain’s practice encompasses performance, video, sculpture and writing.
Their video work Altered Flame greets visitors at the entrance to Urgencies. It shows a flickering red lithium flame, which threatens to go out at any moment. The work considers the status of lithium, an element which is in high demand for its use in batteries, but which is also used as a pharmaceutical treatment for bipolar. Cobain’s work reflects the precarity of supply chains for essential medications, and the political, social and environmental impacts of high technological demand on a finite resource.
Until 15 March 2025, CCA Derry~Londonderry ccadld.org
Soil: The World at Our Feet
Featuring over 50 works in a diverse range of media, this group exhibition digs into the magic of soil, exploring its interconnection with all life, and its vital role in our planet’s future.
Aberystwyth-based a-n member Miranda Whall has three drawings and an audio work included from her series When Earth Speaks. She produces her drawings through a meditative and labour-intensive process, making hundreds of thousands of written or pin-pricked marks on to paper. These marks are informed by scientific studies on the impact of climate change on natural phenomena such as soil, seeds, peat bogs and glaciers. Whall explains: “As the data settles layer upon layer, it becomes naturally impenetrable and indecipherable, resembling the gradual formation of geologies over millennia.”
Until 13 April, Somerset House, London www.somersethouse.org.uk
Top image: Gayle Chong Kwan, I am the Thames and the Thames is Me, ‘Vital Signs’, Science Gallery London. Photo: George Torode
