Secret Garden

About this work

"The forms may change yet the essence remains the same… that essence is within you, and this whole world is springing up from it.” Rumi “Secret Garden” began her journey from a picture I took while I was spending a week in Vanuatu. The palm trees there were covered in the most extraordinary layers of life growing across their bark, and I became completely fascinated by the colours, textures and forms all living side by side and naturally creating their own art simply by being. This is the life on one of those palm trees. What I love about this piece is that it sits somewhere between land and water. Either way it is a form of life on earth. Different people often see completely different things within it, which feels important to me because so much of my work is about perception, imagination and allowing space for personal interpretation. I wish I didn't need to describe where it comes from so that you imagination can stay free to roam. Although this is a smaller piece, there is a huge amount of leaf work within it. Some of the colours I could see in the lichen didn’t exist in the leaves I had available, so I created them by layering and mixing different tones together to achieve the effect I wanted. The piece is also designed to hang in four different directions, allowing you to experience it differently depending on the orientation, light and space around it. As the light changes throughout the day, the metallic surfaces continue to shift and reveal new details.The work thus continually changes its visual narrative depending on how it is hung, the time of day and the amount and direction of light. As with all my artwork, my intention is simply to offer a small pause from the noise of the world. I hope this piece gives you a moment to slow down, breathe, wander within it and reconnect with something organic, layered and alive. All the leaf is varnished to increase its archival value by preventing natural oxidisation of the leaf.That said, as with all of my artworks I intentionally leave a very small section unvarnished - minute but still present, so it will not make a visible change to the artwork. This is conceptual and my node to keep the artwork alive, allowing it to interact with its surrounding and remain true to its organic origins forever living and evolving... and continue to give to you what you need from it. Happy discovering.

About the artist

Anglo-Iranian mixed media artist based in Kent, creating artworks in the style of abstract realism using photography and gilded metal leaf.

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