TLRH | Art + Science Reading Group | Botany + Barriers

Recorded May 07, 2020. The Art + Science Reading Group is now a virtual gathering of thinkers, researchers and the incurably curious. Organised by PhD candidates Amelia McConville (School of English and Institute of Neuroscience) and Autumn Brown (Science Gallery Dublin and School of Education) supported by Science Gallery Dublin and the Trinity Long Room Hub, the series will explore the evolutionary and revolutionary kinship between two approaches to understanding the universe and our place within it. Writers, scientists, and artists will be beaming in from all over the world to shed some extra light on our discussions and provide a personal perspective to some of the artwork shared. We’ll discuss a broad range of topics including bio-art, the aesthetics of mathematics, taking a non-human perspective, AI and gender, and a space probe’s mission to carry our stories into the cosmic wilderness. For this first session we were joined by speaker Mary Dillon, an Irish botanical artist whose work has been exhibited internationally, most recently in Florence, Germany, Vienna, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, Madrid, Frankfurt and London. She was a key contributor to the Drawn From Nature: Irish Botanical Art exhibition in the National Gallery of Ireland (currently postponed). She is a fellow member of Society of Botanical Artists, UK and a member of the Watercolour Society of Ireland, and is a founding chairperson of the Irish Society of Botanical Art. She teaches in Barcelona, Greece, the US, Ireland, and was on the teaching team of the Chelsea School of Botanical Art in London. Mary has a particular fascination with botanical art as a personal process for the artist while at the same time striving for excellence in her art practice. Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/