Botanicals

This is the beginning of a series of work that has been inspired by the #BLM revival following the murder of George Floyd. The power of this movement has inspired me to look at my creative practice with a new lens, and to question how I operate as an artist.

Admittedly I have found what has been going on to be very overwhelming (my white fragility clearly showing), and so in mid June, I reached for my paints and paper to ground and centre myself in the best way I know how - painting botanical forms. I was using some photos I took from a visit to the Copenhagen botanical gardens and whilst painting this first piece it dawned on me that even this was not an innocent scene.

The history of botanical gardens is inextricably linked to European colonial rule across the globe. It became even clearer to me on that day in June how it is just another example of how the western world has taken what it found valuable, interesting or ‘exotic’ back to its homelands and used it to its advantage, often to the detriment of the countries they came from.

Exploring this complex connection of botanical collections, colonialism and the world of adventure artists will be part of my journey of doing the work to becoming an effective anti-racist and ally to the BIPOC communities around the world.

I know it will be messy and hard, I’ve already made some mistakes and inadvertently hurt people along the way. But I pledge that I will do my bit to work on myself as well as my local community and social platforms.