Edwina Orr (MA Royal College of Art) is a London based artist, holographer, inventor, gallerist and curator whose work has bridged fine art, holography, patented 3D autostereoscopic displays and cultural production for more than four decades. In 1997, Orr completed the conversion of a derelict Neo-Gothic property into the ‘291 Gallery’, a contemporary multimedia fine-art gallery in Shoreditch, London, UK. Orr was sole founder and director of 291 Gallery, and she opened the gallery to the public in 1998.
Orr’s artistic practice spans large-scale sculpture, drawing, painting, photography, holography including holographic pulse-laser technology, performance and film. As an independent holographer, she continues to pursue innovative pulse-laser holographic R&D within a fine-art context.
In 1975, Orr trained in conservation of Old Master paintings under Agnes McNeil who worked for the National Gallery, London. Conservation work proved to be invaluable, and it helped Orr fund many of her later art projects until around 1985.
Between 1976 and 1979, Orr completed a BA at Chelsea School of Art, London, UK.
In 1979, she studied holography at New York Holographic Laboratories in New York.
In 1979-80, Orrwas the sole founder and director of Richmond Holographic Studios on Richmond Hill, London, establishing one of the UK's earliest independent laser holography facilities. She singlehandedly built three holographic laser studios so that two studios could be dedicated to teaching and one dedicated to her own artwork. Her pioneering work explored holography as an artistic medium, ranging from experimental interferometry and large-scale transmission holograms to animated multiplex works that are now held in international collections.
In 1981-1983, Orr completed her Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art.
Using the holographic facilities she had built at Richmond Holographic Studios, Orr started to teach holography and established one of the earliest teaching facilities in the UK which over time became internationally recognized for training a new generation of holographers. In 1983, Orr was invited to build two more laser laboratories and to run courses in holography at the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), Bath, UK. Acting as Director of Holographic Education, she ran the holography courses alongside a major holography exhibition curated by Eve Ritscher and sponsored by Agfa-Gevaert. The courses continued in conjunction with the exhibition when it moved to the Science Museum, London. Orr invited and funded international holographers to visit the UK and participate in her RPS holography courses, including Stephen Benton (MIT, USA), Sam Moree & Dan Schweitzer (New York Holographic Lab), Fred Unterseher, Andy Pepper (Nottingham Trent University) and many more. She met David Trayner, who was one of her students attending the RPS holography courses and he later joined Orr at her Richmond Studios in late 1984.
She first met J. Webster in 1983 at the RPS in Bath and he had access to the Southampton University pulse laser facility, so she arranged to hire that facility. Orr funded both the ruby pulse holographic facilities and all the materials required to make holographic recordings of live subject matter. Throughout the 1980s, under the aegis of her Richmond Holographic Studios, Orr became a leading figure in British holography, producing innovative pulse-laser portraits and the world’s first wild life holograms all of which remain the sole property and copyright of Orr herself and her Richmond Studios. In 1986, she purchased a ruby pulse laser and installed it at her Richmond Studios. Her holographic portraits include 80s fashion icons Boy George, Princess Julia and Scarlett Cannon Kate McGougan (in Stephen Jones hat) and many other holographic recordings for major museum collections, among them the mummified head and torso of Lindow Man for the British Museum, London, a recording of Naum Gabo’s sculpture “Construction in Space: Two Cones” for the Tate Gallery and the Broighter Boat for the National Museum of Ireland, several large scale animated images for the Museum of Moving Images along with many other innovative works.
In 1985, Orr started to make drawings and maquettes for large scale sculptures. The sculpture ran in parallel with the holography. Alongside her artistic practice, in 1990, Orr founded Richmond Holographic Research & Development Ltd (RHRD) with co-director David Trayner.
In 1990-1, RHRD was commissioned to deliver a major technology transfer to a large printing company in Tokyo, Japan. The project included design, construction and delivery of an innovative integrated ruby pulse laser system. Orr & Trayner delivered and installed the system in Tokyo and trained the Japanese technicians in the art of holography thereby establishing the first commercial holographic portrait studio in Japan.
In 1993, Orr & Trayner pioneered holographic optical-element technologies for autostereoscopic displays (ASDs) i.e. real time, full colour, and it moving three-dimensional LCD based displays which did not require glasses, eyewear or headsets of any sort. By 2010, Orr and Trayner were the sole named inventors in six published patent families, comprising approximately 74 granted patents worldwide relating to their ASD’s.
In 1993-4 Orr purchased a large Neo Gothic property complex in Shoreditch, London and she relocated her Richmond Holographic Studios to that location. Two thirds of the property was derelict, hence Orr acted as primary site manager for all the restoration building works along with her foreman Greg Whenman and specialist subcontractors. In 1997, Orr completed the conversion of the Neo-Gothic property and launched the ‘291 Gallery’, a large contemporary multimedia fine-art gallery, restaurant and bar in Shoreditch, London, UK. Orr was sole founder and director of 291 Gallery, and she opened the gallery to the public in 1998. The gallery platformed and exhibited many emerging artists alongside well-established artists across fine art, performance art, installations, experimental film, multimedia, dance, sonic art, free jazz, classical music and cabaret. It also provided a forum for discussion on philosophy, art, technology and emerging artificial intelligence, becoming a vital hub for the creative community.
Throughout this time, Orr continued with her sculpture, painting and holography.