Venue 17 (Art in Shops)
Smith & Gertrude, 254 Portobello High Street
Open: 7/8 and 14/15 September
Oblique Territories is a series of drawings exploring reclaimed admiralty charts. Layered compositions emerge through reinterpretation of the outdated notational markings, creating speculative systems, ecologies or geographies.
The painted additions create a palimpsest of sorts, a speculative new layer in the history of the object and perhaps the sea bed itself. The works aim to present an opportunity to reconsider the fixity of current ecologies and geographies; the abstract shapes may represent future mountain ranges, interconnected aquacultures or perhaps traces of the land we inhabit today, lost to rising sea levels.
These specific charts were actively used in the oil industry, so there is a particular poignancy in finding a new use for them, removed from their original extractive context. Ambiguous working drawings remain visible, alongside curious written terms that allude to potential narratives and the processes of mapping oil fields. This obsolete information speaks to impermanence and opportunities to deconstruct and reimagine human enforced systems that negatively impact underwater ecologies.
David Lemm is a visual artist based in Edinburgh. Spanning printmaking, drawing, collage and assemblage, he constructs works through a synthesis of existing materials, usually discovered through encounters with landscape, site specific investigation and process. He often focuses on interactions between designed and naturally occurring form, alluding to speculative narratives whilst considering overlooked aspects of commonplace phenomena.
David originally trained in animation at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee and his approach has evolved with a multidisciplinary ethos. He has undertaken numerous research projects including residencies in Norway, London, Isle of Eigg and the Jon Schueler Scholarship at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye. He has been awarded public art commissions in Lerwick, Edinburgh and Royal Brompton Hospital. Solo presentations include Edinburgh Printmakers (2015), House of Illustration (2016) and Moray Art Centre (2023). He is a Lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art and a studio holder at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.
Contact: david@davidlemm.co.uk
Web: davidlemm.co.uk
