Pia Östlund, Sea of Love

About

For her exhibition at No Show Space Östlund turns her attention to the unique environment of the Koster Sea, on the Swedish border to Norway, and the work carried out by marine scientists at Tjärnö Marine Laboratory, University of Gothenburg. Östlund gained access to the laboratory via a summer residency in 2023 joining a community of people passionate about the sea. She gathered plant specimens alongside researchers investigating how climate crisis affects the seaweed belts in the waters of Kosterhavet.

Nature printing is a rare printmaking process which uses actual plant specimens, electro-chemistry and traditional copperplate printing to create strangely life-life images on paper, with a curious texture in relief. The method was out of use and largely forgotten for nearly 150 years. Having worked for many years as a designer for Chelsea Physic Garden and Oxford Botanic Garden, Östlund first discovered this rare Victorian method in the inner library of the Physic Garden. Following extensive research and with the help of a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust grant, she recently spent two months in Denmark learning from the Master Printmakers at BORCH Editions, Copenhagen, and refining the platemaking process.

The exhibition will showcase nature prints and copper printing-plates made in Denmark using seaweed and other organisms collected during her residency at Tjärnö. Textile and video pieces will also be on display evoking the coastal laboratory setting and the activity there.

As the oceans call out for our attention, Sea of Love draws parallels between printmaking, marine sciences and the passionate pursuit of finding things out.