Beauty blooms:
“Flowers have always represented ideas and emotion in both Eastern and Western cultures,” says photographer Emma Bass. “In art, they are often symbols of decay and yet they are cherished as one of the most universal forms of beauty. It’s a beauty that is always short-lived. To me they are metaphors of life, death, reality and illusion.” Last year, Bass’ Hydrangeas 8.50am was selected for the prestigious Summer Exhibition at the 2016 Royal Academy in London and her visit to the English capital planted the seed for her next series of portraits, Embellish.
She was inspired by the Dutch masters who, Bass says, created impossible bouquets which were themselves embellished as they couldn’t possibly exist within the one season. “I liked the way they put their images together, so I have embraced their techniques and artifice for my own creations.”
But look closely at her pictures and you’ll see all is not what it seems. Some of the flowers are real, others artificial. In some images, Bass is working consciously with the contrast between real and what we might call fake. She asks, “does something have to be authentic to be beautiful? When it comes to embellishment, where does authenticity stop and illusion begin?” Emma Bass — Embellish, Smyth Galleries, November 9-30. Meanwhile, artist Pamela Wolfe has long focused on floral compositions; her current work concentrates on dwindling bee populations and the continuing struggle to preserve the beauty of nature. Pamela Wolfe — Fugitive, Artis Gallery, closes tomorrow. Inspired by Bass and Wolfe’s work? You have two weeks to enter a 2018 exhibition organised by the American Society of Botanical Artists. Artists, institutions and the public from 15 countries come together to show how contemporary botanical artists can highlight the need to safeguard botanical diversity.
With theme of New Zealand native plants, our exhibition will be held with the Botanical Art Society of New Zealand (BASNZ) and the Auckland Botanic Gardens from March 30July 1 (May 18 has been picked as Worldwide Botanical Art Day). For more information, email botanicartnz@gmail.com with Botanical Art Worldwide as the subject.