NEWLYN Art Gallery presents Subterrania, a specially commissioned solo exhibition of large-scale photographic works by British artist Fiona Crisp.

The collection explores a series of very different underground worlds including Cornwall's very own Geevor Tin Mine.

Crisp's compelling images are selected from a series of works developed over the last seven years and will be exhibited at Newlyn Art Gallery from Saturday until April 17.

This evocative show will see the gallery's exhibition spaces installed with Fiona's images, each a poignant exploration that reminisces over past, present and future activity.

One of the key series of images in Subterrania was created in collaboration with Geevor Tin Mine, part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, near St Just.

The other images in the exhibition were made at various European locations, including early Christian catacombs in Rome, a lead mining museum in County Durham and a Second World War underground hospital in Guernsey.

The show also includes two works recently made at a potash mine in Boulby on the North Yorkshire/Cleveland coast. At over 1km deep, Boulby is the UK's deepest working mine but it also houses a laboratory dedicated to the search for dark matter, an invisible and elusive substance that is believed by astronomers to hold galaxies together.

The disparate locations for these images were chosen by Crisp both for the sense of physical power they evoke, and the fact that their original purpose has changed.

Now opened up to very different users, they bring into question the complex relationships between heritage and tourism, science and history.

Crisp is known for making large-scale photographic installations that explore the relationship between photography and architectural space and one of the central themes in her work is the gap between physical experience and visual perception: between encountering a space and the subsequent visualisation of that scene.

The artist says: "I was delighted when commissioned by Newlyn Art Gallery to extend the body of work that makes up Subterrania by making a new cycle of images here in Cornwall. There are several parallels between the tin mining industry in this region and the lead mining industry in County Durham and Northumberland where I had already been making images, especially in terms of the relationships between history, heritage and economic regeneration. I am indebted to Pendeen Community Heritage for allowing me access to the modern workings of Geevor Tin Mine and to Bill Lakin in particular for his knowledge, expertise and patience in helping me with the project there.

There will also be a series of talks and activities based around the exhibition.

Fiona will be in conversation with Daro Montag, MA course leader at University College Falmouth on Friday, March 19. There will be a pay bar from 7pm, the talk begins at 7.30pm.

They will discuss the thinking behind her choice of locations and fascination with underground spaces, as well as the processes behind the making of the work for Subterrania.

Bill Lakin talks about Geevor Tin Mine on Saturday, February 20, at noon. The chair of Pendeen Community Heritage, will talk about the history of Geevor Tin Mine and its future as a heritage site as a free option for visitors/guests.

Contact the gallery for more information on dates and times on 01736 363715.

● Newlyn Art Gallery's sister space The Exchange in Penzance, will be showing Transition 9 until February 20. Entry to both galleries is free.