Making Waves – Breaking Ground

The third annual Space to Breathe summer art exhibition, titled 'Making Waves – Breaking Ground,' is on view at Bowhouse in St Monans, Fife, Scotland, from 19 July to 4 August 2025 and 16-31 August 2025. Organized by Sophie Camu Lindsay and Alexander Lindsay in collaboration with Purdy Hicks Gallery, the show features 11 artists and over 100 works—paintings, drawings, and photographs—that explore the natural world, particularly land and sea. The installation uses a unique hanging system in the 900-square-meter barn space, allowing visitors to create their own journey through the works. Artists push boundaries in technique, with many using innovative photographic processes that blur the line between photography and painting, such as Anaïs Tondeur's rayograms of radioactive plants from Chernobyl.

This exhibition matters because it offers a meditative, non-didactic space for reflection on humanity's relationship with nature and ecological responsibility. By focusing on the tension between nature's strength and fragility, the show invites viewers to disengage from the material world and immerse themselves in the images, fostering renewed awareness of environmental impact. The inclusion of artists who experiment with materials and methods—like Tondeur's collaboration with a philosopher and a bio-genetician—highlights how contemporary art can deepen understanding of complex ecological issues. As a recurring summer event in a rural Scottish venue, Space to Breathe also demonstrates the growing importance of regional, site-specific exhibitions in the broader art landscape.