Mesostic Remedy comprises a pair of mesostic poems for each of the thirty-eight original herb remedies that were created by Dr Edward Bach (1886–1936). The poems are printed onto labels for a set of Bach’s remedies and presented in a wooden wall cabinet. The poems reflect both the negative and positive characteristics ascribed to each remedy.

A ‘mesostic’ is composed of horizontal word branches emerging from the trunk of a name. Finlay’s mesostics have been published in Mesostic Remedy, a book published by Jupiter Artland in which the poems are accompanied by illustrations of each flower by artist Laurie Clark.

Dr Bach was a bacteriologist, physician and pathologist whose philosophy of homeopathy highlighted the relationship between mental states and physical illness. The connection between Bach’s homeopathic remedies and the work of Robert and Nicky Wilson means that Mesostic Remedy is a site-specific intervention.

Alongside Mesostic Remedy, Jupiter Artland’s permanent collection includes another artwork by Finlay titled A Variety of Cultures.

Biography

Alec Finlay (b. 1966, Inverness, Scotland) is an artist, poet and publisher based in Edinburgh. In recent years Finlay’s work has been primarily concerned with contemporary visions of nature and landscape. He employs a diverse range of forms: neon text, nest-boxes, major interventions working with windmill turbines, multiples, paper works and all forms of print and web-based media, alongside innovative poetic forms such as the renga, circle poem and mesostic.

Recent exhibitions and projects include: Retrospective, Arizona Poetry Centre (2018); Question & Answers (after Paul Celan) a permanent public artwork commissioned by CGP Gallery (2018); Taigh the national memorial for organ donors at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, commissioned by Scottish Government (2014). Finlay’s major public artworks in Scotland include a xylotheque in the hidden gardens at Tramway, Glasgow; a series of permanent artworks for Springburn Park, Glasgow; Home to a king in George Square Gardens, Edinburgh; and Interleaved, a text-based work in Sir Basil Spence’s Main Library at the University of Edinburgh. Finlay has worked on long term residencies and exhibitions with BALTIC and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and performances for Tramway and Tate Modern.

His publications have won numerous Scottish Design Awards, and recent publications include Wonderous Sore (2023) two illustrated poetic essays reflecting on landscape, vulnerability, and violence; and Gathering (2018) a place-aware mapping of the Cairngorms in poems, essays, photographs and maps.