‘It’s not the things portrayed in a work which make it beautiful, it is its spirit”
Alain De Botton
My work draws its inspiration from the Renaissance concept of the Cabinet of Curiosities, especially the Naturalia element of these. The cabinets held items of interest, while protecting and preserving these, often without reference to preconceived categorical boundaries.
The cabinets became a scientific research and escapism space for the owner, where they could marvel at their collection and pose wider questions of the universe.
This current work has been an exploration that has been response driven within a defined framework, allowing an idea to grow, without having complete control over the end result.
Very much like my practice:
- I plant an idea
- Nurture that idea
- Then prune and shape the idea
- While allowing it to gurgle and grow
These images are the result of this process and show an alternative dimension of plants. Playing with reflection, time and distortion, spontaneous elements that evolved;
Reflection has created an altered view of the plant world through refraction of light rays within the bottle, thus creating a world within a world. Creating a conversation between the real and the perceived.
The time element plays with the life cycle of the natural world, this is emphasized through using different stages of plant growth.
Through distortion, the "ordinary has become extraordinary”, it encourages and re-ignites a sense of wonder in the everyday or overlooked. Possibly creating a misleading impression of nature - ‘is this a wondrous object newly perceived or a mundane object perceived newly?‘
In this work I have nurtured these various elements to create unique items of Naturalia; a family of images with their own spirit - my own Cabinet of Curiosities.