Aimée Finlay: A Thurifer Left

Aimée Finlay: A Thurifer Left

Opening Event Friday 3 November 6-8 pm

Hawthornvale Space
4 November – 31 January 2024
Daily 7am – 7pm, viewable from the street

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop is delighted to present  A Thurifer Left  by Aimée Finlay, a newly commissioned installation for our Hawthornvale Space.

Aimée Finlay has created this work using ESW’s foundry to explore her fascination with the casting process as a means of both reproducing and transforming her sculpted replicas of Thuribles. Thuribles, also known as censers, are vessels used in Christian liturgy for burning aromatic incense on lighted coals, an act that carries deep spiritual and symbolic significance.

Through this work, Finlay revisits personal experiences of ritual and ceremony as an altar server in the Catholic Church. The repeated act of casting mirrors the structured repetition of religious practices, while the transformation of materials reflects the evolving nature of tradition and memory. By reinterpreting these sacred objects through sculpture, Finlay not only preserves their historical and religious essence but also invites contemplation on the ways in which ritual, belief, and materiality intersect over time.

Aimée Finlay is an Emerging Scottish Artist captivated by casting and iteration through digital or analog means. They were awarded a Graduate Studio Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop after their graduation from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 2021. Aimée’s is currently developing their skills in metal casting.

You can find out more about their work here

The Hawthornvale Space Programme is an ongoing series of public art commissions that aims to give the public an unexpected and thought provoking encounter with contemporary art. It connects the work of the artists we support with our local community and passersby. Housed in our on street gallery space the commission is viewable daily from the street, projecting the work of the commissioned artist into the public realm to engage a broad audience, many of whom might not regularly visit art galleries.