Exhibition

IN PRAISE OF RAW DATA
SALON MARGATE
Dr Melanie King & Dr Claudia Mignone

Exhibition Continues: Saturday 1st – Wednesday 5th March 12-4pm. Saturday and Sunday 12-6pm.

This exhibition is a result of an ongoing collaboration between artist Dr Melanie King and Dr Claudia Mignone - an astronomer and science communicator at INAF - Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. This exhibition is supported by Canterbury Christ Church University.

This exhibition highlights the beauty of raw astronomical data and artefacts resulting from cosmic interactions with telescope sensors. These features include over-exposed cores of stars which resemble black holes and six pointed spikes around stars, which are an artefact of the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror and struts. In this project, King and Mignone have considered the construction of astronomical images and raw data artefacts that are often removed from astronomical images for public outreach purposes.
 
Astronomical images in the digital media ecosystem are highly mediated, for example - colours are added to images taken in different filters to reflect different chemicals present in a galaxy or nebula. In this project, King and Mignone have been speaking to Alyssa Pagan and Joseph Depasquale, visualisation specialists at the Space Telescope Science Institute to learn more about their image editing processes. In addition to this, the pair spoke to Mark McCaughrean (Former Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency) about his extensive work with astronomical imaging. King and Mignone have discussed their research at the 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop on Astronomy for Education held by the International Astronomical Union in November 2024.

This project comprises several colour printing processes and sustainable printing techniques, which mimic digital imaging processing. These processes include risograph prints, produced at Park Press Margate. In addition to this, King produced sustainable screen prints using oak gall inks and recycled papers made in collaboration with photographer Clare Hewitt, botanical ink maker Carolyn Morton and paper maker Danielle Phelps. King has also been working on duotone cyanotypes using botanical toners in her Ramsgate studio, and duotone photogravures with Peter Moseley. As King’s work considers the intimate connection between the cosmos, ecology of earth and materiality, the artist was keen to use sustainable printing processes to limit the impact of her work on the environment. For this exhibition, King worked with Blueswift to design framing solutions that include sustainable and recyclable materials.

Mignone has experimented with digital astronomical imaging composites, in addition to multiple acetate images that represent astronomical images in different colours. These images show the same object taken in various filters, which are used to produce an installation in the gallery. The experimental printing processes and installations aim to draw attention to artefacts resulting from astronomical telescopes, in addition to the printing processes themselves.

This project comes out of Dr King’s practice-based PhD research “Ancient Light: Rematerialising The Astronomical Image”, which was completed at the Royal College of Art in June 2024. Dr Claudia Mignone has contributed to King’s doctoral research, and the duo have previously worked together to produce artworks for the Waterman’s Art Centre and Central Saint Martins in London.

Workshops

I am pleased to announce that I will be leading an in-person caffenol workshop (with used coffee grounds) on Saturday 22nd March at Photo Oxford. In addition to this, I have some online on-demand workshops with the Land Art Agency. 

London Alt Photo Events

Martha Gray and I have organised two upcoming events in London.

Interstices | The Hidden Histories of Women in Botany
Online Talk 5 March 12.30pm - 13.30pm

“Individual contributions are all too often forgotten, overshadowed, or never acknowledged; lost in the gaps among objects.” - Professor Stephen A. Harris, Druce Curator of Oxford University Herbaria. (Adapted from the foreword to Gem Toes-Crichton’s book.)”

In this talk, Gem Toes-Crichton shares her visual research within the collections and archives at Oxford University Herbaria, uncovering the remarkable contributions of women in botany. Collaborating with curators, scientists, artists, and illustrators, Gem’s journey led to the creation of a hand-bound artist’s book featuring pressed plant specimens, cameraless prints, and herbarium ephemera—a tribute to plants, women, and early photographic pioneers. This presentation delves into her research process, the creation of this unique book, and the myriad ways art and science can engage people with plants, history, and photography.

Gem Toes-Crichton is an Oxford-based photographer and researcher exploring the intersection of art and science, with a focus on plants, botanical illustration, and women’s historical contributions. Driven by a keen interest in the overlooked, Gem seeks to illuminate hidden aspects of these fields through her work. When not teaching photography at Falmouth University, she contributes to botanical and ecological fieldwork, blending her interdisciplinary interests with a commitment to engaging the public with plants and the natural world through photography.

You can learn more about Gem’s work here: www.instagram.com/gemblina

March Social at Photobook Cafe

We will hold our March 2025 social event at the opening of ‘Reaching Beyond The Visible A group exhibition in celebration of International Women’s Day’, as LAPC Project Manager Martha Gray will be showing new work in the exhibition.

Details:
Date: Thursday 6 March, 6pm onwards.
Reaching Beyond The Visible A group exhibition in celebration of International Women’s Day.
PHOTO BOOK CAFE 4 Leonard CircusLondon, England, EC2A 4DQ

‘Uniting International Women’s Day and World Book Day, the weekend of March 6th-9th will see a multidisciplinary group exhibition, accompanied by a programme of events. Seeing a Cameraless Photography Workshop and Photobook displays, brought by Female Artists and Publishers hosted at The Photobook Cafe Gallery.

Featuring works by ten Female artists; Viviana Almas, Claire Sunho Lee, Denise Laura Baker, Martha Gray, Emma Martin, Sam Evans, Bluebell Ross, Emi OConnell, Elizabeth Blackie and Becca Burn. Artworks in the exhibition will explore themes of Mythology, Spirituality and Heritage, by tapping into dreamlike states, detachment and questioning one’s identity and womanhood.’

Support Me

- Patreon  (£10 Subscription includes: Monthly postcard and regular tutorials and videos. There are lower tiers available.)
- Ko-Fi

For £10+ Patreon Subscribers, this month I am offering a postcard of the Tarantula Nebula. It is a reproduction of a screen print on coffee cup paper produced as part of my collaborative project In Praise Of Raw Data. 

All proceeds go to the further development of my practice, including my current show ‘In Praise Of Raw Data’ at Salon Margate.

Image: Messier 101, Pinwheel Spiral Galaxy, Duotone Photogravure, 2025. Created with Peter Moseley.