Today I am focusing on the work of four fantastic Artists who use aspects of foliage, flowers, silhouette, botanicals or notions of pattern and repeat in their work….and how each artist has a remarkably different take on the ‘floral’ theme. I love how this illustrates the breadth, scope and influence of botanicals {and botanical design} and how it’s heritage has had such a strong impact on Artists and Designers today.
To start, Christine Bertola {above} whose stunning work I discovered recently on the V+A website and was reminded of again yesterday through Des papillons blog…I was instantly drawn into her world of domestic patterns {which look like they are taken from old turn of the century wallpapers…Victorian and busy in style, even with a touch of French grandeur!} - so to see these beautiful flocked patterns creep through dusty floors or physically jump out from a papered wall, usually flat, is just extraordinary….and truly beautiful!
Next up is Maggie Hollingworth {above} whose work is a wonderfully eclectic mix of applied art, textiles [paper, fiber, surface] product design {certainly in the taking of a product and redefining it’s use and form}…I love that by covering this well known object with pattern, especially here with the historical floral motif, it totally changes our notion of the object - something that we normally so associate with function, hard work and usefulness now becomes purely decorative! Although this is quite clearly an art-piece, I love how the process here is very much paralleled with the design process itself….assessing a function, tipping that function on it’s head and seeing where it leads. In this case, it leads to something really very striking and lovely indeed!
I was first introduced to Valerie Hammond {above} by Camilla Engman who linked to her AMAZING work on her blog a few months ago. I was instantly smitten. I find the work striking and subtle at the same time…her colour palette of greens and browns as sensitive and alive as the natural world itself. I love how the use of natural form can hold so much meaning, ideas of growth, severance, death even. In Hammonds’ statement she talks about the influence of Tibetan medical drawings and Buddhist sculptures, so it is interesting to see how these themes have translated into her pieces. I like the combination of the macabre and the ethereal….something that I also love about the Textile Design team Timorous Beasties work, which I mentioned yesterday [see post below!]. I like these crossovers between design and art and how one very much feeds into the other…
Finishing off with something calming and serene today from artist Mary Temple {above} …these amazingly beautiful installations appear to be fleeting shadows cast by flowers and foliage. When you realise these are actually painted sets, within a room or on the side of the building, you begin to see the genius of her work. Small moments that many people take for granted [though of course, many do not!] captured, or staged, and given permanence and importance….elevating something as simple and lovely as a Botanical shadow to Fine Art. I love looking through her website…it has the most calming effect on me! Natures wallpaper, if you like…just given a little helping hand!…
