Earth Matters
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Earth Matters | Inverleith House, Botanic Gardens Edinburgh | March-November 2026
‘The Unconformities’
Earth Matters marks 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, the Edinburgh-born farmer and writer who revolutionised our understanding of Earth’s creation and the ground beneath us.
These suspended drawings in space each interpret John Clerk of Eldin’s illustrations for Hutton’s ‘Theory of the Earth’. The drawings were lost for nearly 200 years before their discovery in 1968, and remarkably were included in the exhibition just behind these pieces.
The textiles’ transparency recalls not only the folio pages of Eldin’s drawings, but also layers of geology and time. The shadows the pieces cast move around the room with the rhythm of the passing days and seasons. These works are not static, but rather actively change with time.
Images above: James Stevens
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Installation images: Ruth Clark
The textiles included in these works, cotton organdie and silk organza, have been hand-painted with European earth pigments, in various combinations and levels of dilution. They were created outside and hung on a line to dry, resulting in an organic ‘weathered’ feel to the fabrics. Wet days scattered and soaked the pigment into the cloth, whereas sunny days dried the pigments rapidly, freezing moving rivers of colour as they descended down to earth.
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Above: Textile research and development, February 2026
Below: Sir John Clerk of Eldin’s ‘Jedburgh’, ‘Castle St’ and ‘Salisbury Crags’.
The drawings of these specific sites have been interpreted to create the abstracted panelled designs of the pieces themselves. Both Castle St and the Salisbury Crags can be seen out of the windows of Inverleith House.
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Earth Matters at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh
20th March - 1st November 2026
Earth Matters | Inverleith House, Botanic Gardens Edinburgh | March-November 2026
‘The Unconformities’
Earth Matters marks 300 years since the birth of James Hutton, the Edinburgh-born farmer and writer who revolutionised our understanding of Earth’s creation and the ground beneath us.
These suspended drawings in space each interpret John Clerk of Eldin’s illustrations for Hutton’s ‘Theory of the Earth’. The drawings were lost for nearly 200 years before their discovery in 1968, and remarkably were included in the exhibition just behind these pieces.
The textiles’ transparency recalls not only the folio pages of Eldin’s drawings, but also layers of geology and time. The shadows the pieces cast move around the room with the rhythm of the passing days and seasons. These works are not static, but rather actively change with time.
Images above: James Stevens
Installation images: Ruth Clark
The textiles included in these works, cotton organdie and silk organza, have been hand-painted with European earth pigments, in various combinations and levels of dilution. They were created outside and hung on a line to dry, resulting in an organic ‘weathered’ feel to the fabrics. Wet days scattered and soaked the pigment into the cloth, whereas sunny days dried the pigments rapidly, freezing moving rivers of colour as they descended down to earth.
Above: Textile research and development, February 2026
Below: Sir John Clerk of Eldin’s ‘Jedburgh’, ‘Castle St’ and ‘Salisbury Crags’.
The drawings of these specific sites have been interpreted to create the abstracted panelled designs of the pieces themselves. Both Castle St and the Salisbury Crags can be seen out of the windows of Inverleith House.
Earth Matters at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh
20th March - 1st November 2026
