Grandiflora

This exhibition is a celebration of the beauty in nature with the Australian Wildflowers being my subject of expression. Coming from a Dutch heritage, I am inspired by the Dutch Golden Age flower paintings, capturing intricate detail with the design of large painted compositions of floral arrangements including blooms from different regions. 

As I have been working with the subject of Australian Wildflowers for more than a decade, my love for our flora in their diversity with respect to their colour and form has continued to fuel my curiosity for these most intriguing of specimens. The study of their structures and changing forms through their life span has made me appreciate the miracles of their shapes and by close observation through charcoal studies, the mystery is unraveled. 

Documenting a flower while it blooms, decays and pod seeds are formed, allows me to feel more connected to my subject. Each and every flower is unique and so each study becomes a portrait, each composition of multiple flowers- a group portrait. By working magnifying glasses and presenting them as larger than life, I am able to depict what cannot be seen with the naked eye, drawing the viewer in for closer observation to appreciate the multiple layers in the painted work and the intricate detail in the drawings.

Now that the process has come together as a series of work moving from the drawings to the paintings, with an extension of my paintings incorporating bronze and resin sculptures, GRANDIFLORA is a celebration of the flora on a grand scale, proudly Australian.