Jennifer McElwain
Fragments of Biodiversity
Collage of screenprints, 29 x 44cm, €420
Plant Blindness
Screenprint with blackberry and hawthorn dye and embossed roan leaves, 40.4 x 49cm, €420
Scandix & Scheuchzeri I
4 colour screenprint, 42 x 29.7cm, €320
Extinct IX
4 colour screenprint, 42 x 29.7cm, €290
Biography
I am a scientist, author and screen-printer. I trained as a screen-printer in Black Church Print Studio in 2019 and went on to develop my own simple studio setup in a shed at home in County Wicklow, followed by an improved studio setup with small darkroom. I followed trial and error with a simple UV light bulb to produce my first screens and prints. It took about 6 months of failure before I produced my first successful screen after which I established Bird Cherry Studio in my garden. I became a member of Black Church Print Studio in 2023. I am the Chair of Botany at Trinity College Dublin and Director of Trinity College Botanic Garden.
Statement
McElwain’s work explores the intersection of science & art. Her artistic practice tries to channel unexpected outcomes – the marks that emerge from an original idea that cannot be predicted – following concepts on ‘emergent properties’ in science. Her work explores human perceptions of nature, plant blindness, extinction, and atmospheric change through silk-screen printing which she combines with mark making directly on screens, repeated over printing with twigs and through incorporation of hand-made dyes. Her art constantly fights against her scientific brain’s drive for order and pattern.