Since its inception in 2009, RSA Residencies for Scotland has supported a wide range of artists at 26 venues across Scotland. The Royal Scottish Academy has a proud tradition of promoting excellence in contemporary art in Scotland. Led by eminent artists and architects the RSA support the creation, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts through exhibitions, artist opportunities and related educational talks and events. Re-establishing themselves as a leading organisation for the visual arts in Scotland, the RSA have successfully garnered a reputation for the strength of their engaging and diverse exhibitions and the fantastic opportunities they offer both established and emerging artists.
Hannah Imlach is an Edinburgh based visual artist working predominantly in sculpture and photography. Her practice concerns the nature of our interaction with the environment; focussing on how an art object may be involved in the simplest yet often most overlooked experiences with nature. Her sculptural ‘tools’ often take on recognisable forms acting as a shelter, boat, jacket, kite or optical device and so hold inherent performative potential. Through their handmade futuristic aesthetic, the sculptures suggest utopian/dystopian narratives in which the effects of climate change are played out and ideas of an alternate sustainable existence are explored.
Imlach’s practice involves research and discursive residencies as well as exhibition commissions and workshops. She recently completed the Edinburgh Emerging Artist Bursary Scheme and undertook residencies with Creative Carbon Scotland, Timespan, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists in Reykjavik.
Drawn to the off-the-grid Isle of Eigg as a microcosm of how a future Scotland may function. Imlach intends to spend her time at Sweeney’s Bothy researching the renewable energy resources on the island, in particular the three hydroelectric generators that provide the majority of the islands power. Drawing connections between ownership, responsibility and empowerment the project will result in a gestural, sculptural piece installed back on the island in Spring 2016.