Eczema patients' voices amplified by ECA academic and team

Two people with long hair have their backs to us. They are looking at a collage which is in a large wooden frame and hung on a wall.

Surface Echoes in situ at Dermatology Unit, Edinburgh. Image: Sally Jubb

Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) academic Beverley Hood is wrapping up a three-year research project entitled Surface Echoes alongside Professor Sara Brown of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Genetics and Cancer.

Beverley is an artist and Reader in Technological Embodiment and Creative Practice at ECA.

The project, funded by a ScotPEN Wellcome Engagement Award (ref 220875/Z/20/Z), was developed in partnership with individuals affected by eczema, organisation ASCUS Art and Science and patient support group Eczema Outreach Support, alongside creative professionals and arts and health researchers.

The main aim of the project was to bring to life the everyday challenges and emotional impact of living with eczema. The research team built on quotes captured during medical research from those with experience of eczema. These quotes are often buried within academic, clinician-focused medical literature that can be inaccessible to non-experts.

A pair of hands is sticking blocks of text to a larger sheet. One of the hands is holding an orange pen.

The collage in progress. Image: Keira Tucker

Three sets of paper are on laid out on a white background. Lines of text have been cut out of a white sheet of paper and have been photocopied.

One of the resources of the Surface Echoes project is a printable script. Image: Sally Jubb

Workshops

Through a series of workshops and using the quotes from the medical literature as a springboard, Beverley and her team created a large-scale collage, capturing the written and spoken quotes of people living with eczema.

Beverley says: “In these workshops with people with eczema, we asked ‘Who do you want to hear you? and ‘Who needs to hear these words?’. This directly informed the creation of the collage and the resultant output.”

She continues: “Surface Echoes is an exemplar of how powerful interdisciplinary collaboration can be, where artists and scientists work together in an exploratory way. We’ve completed our research through creative practise, adapting different methodologies, and weaving together the creative inputs and skills of a broad range of different people.”

Photos documenting the development process

A large group of people are seated at a table with papers in front of them. They are looking attentively at the person at the front of the image.

Surface Echoes workshop. Image: Keira Tucker

Research outputs

The collage of verbatim quotes from people affected by eczema is now displayed within the NHS Dermatology Department, Lauriston Building, Edinburgh. This position has been chosen as a prime site for visibility to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and healthcare workers in training – the audiences highlighted by participants as being the people who they felt most needed to hear their voices.

The content in the collage was distilled into a script, designed for use by professional groups, families, friends, colleagues or individuals wishing to learn more about the realities of life with eczema. The script can be read together in a group, with a friend, or alone, as a collective experience of reading and listening to other people’s voices.

The script is available online as an A4 printable PDF along with an audible version. This features diverse voices from across the UK and a specially commissioned soundtrack.

In April 2025, members of the Surface Echoes team gathered at the Edinburgh Futures Institute to celebrate the launch of the Surface Echoes project and showcase its resources to many of the contributors. Attendees were given the opportunity to experience visual and audio resources and view the collage from which the Surface Echoes script was developed. This video shows highlights of the event & invites you to hear feedback from participants, including reflections from the Surface Echoes team.

A person wearing headphones is sitting a desk and they are leafing through the Surface Echoes script. There are other people around them.

The audio version of the script was shared at a launch event at Edinburgh Futures Institute. Image: Sally Jubb

A person wearing headphones is looking at the printed script while listening to the Surface Echoes script. Other people are doing the same.

The audio version is available to listen to and download via the ASCUS website. Image: Sally Jubb

Legacy

Surface Echoes is a continuation of Beverley’s work in interdisciplinary art and science collaboration. She previously created We began as part of the body (2017-2021), a multi-part artwork which tells the story of the journey of artificial, organotypic skin cells, during their short, precious, three weeks long 'in-vitro' life, from operating theatre to research laboratory, and finally to disposal, inspired by a residency in Sara’s genetic research laboratory.

Beverley’s research has inspired an excellent roster of PhD students, such as Emily Beaney’s studies in experimental film practice exploring embodied knowledge of chronic illness and care, and Xiaozhuang Gao’s studies in how non-instrumental approaches to technology can be designed to support being mindful.

About Beverley Hood

Beverley Hood is an artist and academic working in digital media, performance, film, painting, collage and writing. Her work delves into the impact of technology and science on the body, relationships, and human experience. She collaborates with a range of interdisciplinary practitioners, including medical researchers, scientists, writers, technologists, dancers, actors, and composers. Beverley’s work has been performed, screened and exhibited at international galleries, museums and events including the Royal Alberta Museum, Canada, Bienal de Arte Digital, Brazil, Stockholm Kulturhuser, Sweden, Edinburgh International Festival, CCA Glasgow, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London.