(INCH-EE-SOO-RAH)An exhibition by Rosie Andrew, curated by Kate Hyatt.11th-13th July 2025. Strange Field, 105 French St. Glasgow With special thanks to Melissa Rankin for the music and live violin performance and Finn Millar for the filming and video editing.Photo credits: James Andrew

INCISURA

The Foul and The Fair&mdash;a project set within the haunting ambiance of a butcher&rsquo;s domain, where the echoes of slaughter mingle with the scent of decay. Here, the dissonance between feminine curves and lifeless flesh becomes a visual meditation on the contradictions of existence. Merging the elegance of ballet with the grotesque reality of the flesh, the series explores themes from Carolyn Korsmeyer&rsquo;s Aesthetics of Disgust and Julia Kristeva&rsquo;s Powers of Horror, which I examine further in my dissertation <a href="https://issuu.com/docs/ed34fcf5a2779287594e05bb04515f6d">&ldquo;The Allure of the Macabre&rdquo;</a>. It is a study of beauty in darkness, life in death, and strength within fragility.Influenced by the visceral power of Francis Bacon, Ilaria Facci, Chaim Soutine, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Caravaggio, the work navigates the threshold between horror and grace. Each film still or photograph becomes a tableau vivant, confronting the viewer with the vulnerability of the human form and its unsettling truths. Through this surreal lens, The Foul and The Fair challenges conventional ideals of beauty and invites introspection, dialogue, and an acceptance of the complex nature of our shared human experience.

The Foul and The Fair

&ldquo;A Photographic Compendium of the Scottish Witch Trials 1563 -1735&rdquo; combines my &ldquo;outsiders&rdquo; curiosity in Scottish history and how it is still relevant today regarding the systematic persecution of women in society. I hope to capture raw, powerful emotions in my dark, sometimes macabre images almost as if a documentary team were capturing the scene, albeit hundreds of years before photography was even invented. My images strive for emotion no matter whether this is achieved through traditional analogue means or state of the art &ldquo;deep nostalgia&rdquo; or AI image generators.My work has been featured in &quot;How to Kill a Witch&quot; by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi, out May 2025. For more info click <a href="https://www.witchesofscotland.com/book">here</a>.

A Photographic Compedium of the Scottish Witch Trials 1563-1735

In the long lost Caldercruix paper mill there was a place of wonder. Try to imagine a mythical, magical land and picture a pile, no! a hill, in fact a mountain, a gigantic mountain of buttons. To some it was nothing more than a rubbish heap, a pile of discarded haberdashery, but to others it was a fairytale playground, a haunted castle, an evil lair, a medieval battlefield or even a futuristic kingdom in a far-off galaxy! Even on a dreich, grey Scottish summer&rsquo;s day from the rag sorting warehouse of the Finest Blotting Paper Manufacturer in the Empire the laughter, glee and fun of children could be heard. All that was needed for the transformation from rubbish heap to fantasy wonderland was a touch of imagination.&nbsp;As the sun rises over the northern plains, wee Guy, our Sam, Mary and wee Isabelle were about to have the best day of their young lives, they just didn&rsquo;t know it yet!&nbsp;A wee message list was scribbled by the knitting Grannies (Grannies love to knit, as they do) on a scrap of the finest, high quality blotting paper in the land (everything in Croox was written on the finest, highest quality blotting paper of course&hellip;) &ndash; The list went as follows:&nbsp;5 mother of pearl buttons for wee Jessie Mcgavoch&rsquo;s matinee jacket&nbsp;6 medium, beige bone toggles for big Jim&rsquo;s birthday cardigan&nbsp;4 big silver military buttons for Mrs Mcewan&rsquo;s twins&rsquo; sailor outfits.&nbsp;Buttons in hand and mission accomplished there was just enough time left for a little mischief. What do the little kiddies of today know about good fun. Nothing I say. You try a gigantic mountain of buttons&hellip; you&rsquo;ll never look back. As Guy rallied wee Isabelle and Mary round the Buttony hill, they had the brilliant idea to bury wee Sam up to his neck in buttons. &nbsp;Tea time was fast approaching and as the sun set over Blotting Paper Paradise for another day, knitting grannies mission completed, the Buttony Hill almost seemed like just a pile of discarded buttons again.&nbsp;&nbsp;Written by Rosie Andrew &amp; James Andrew&nbsp;

INCISURA

The Foul and The Fair

A Photographic Compedium of the Scottish Witch Trials 1563-1735

Buttony Hill

Photography