Oil on Canvas, 76 x 102 cm
Ink on Paper, 30 x 42 cm
‘Glasshouse Gardens’ is a series of drawings and paintings I am currently developing, through which I want to reflect on how we view and experience nature, especially in an urban environment.
I am interested in botanical gardens and conservatories as examples of curated nature, even as they provide a connection to plant life. Conservatories, that require complex systems to be sustained, often with plants taken out of their native habitats, are versions of nature that are heavily controlled. The aim of this project is not to diminish the benefits of these spaces, but to present a more nuanced view of our relationship with plants and nature, blurring the binary distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘man-made.’
In these works, the spaces are represented from an experiential viewpoint rather than a singular image, as with most architectural drawing conventions. The fragmented nature of the images echoes the way our eyes move around a space. Traces of human intervention and presence are depicted throughout: the frame of the glasshouses, handrails, paving. By capturing the presence of people who take care of these places, I wanted to acknowledge the effort needed to maintain them.