Unnatural Beauty

This work takes inspiration from the flower paintings of the Dutch Golden Age (1600-1750). These painters manipulated their images in various ways including distorting perspective, impossible lighting arrangements and portraying blooms that could not have been in flower at the same time. They wanted to show wealth, not just of flowers but also of their owners (owners of both flowers and paintings).

I have produced manipulated photographic images showing the wealth of nature that may be lost to environmental degradation using the transitory nature of flora as metaphor for how we affect our environment. My images highlight pollution from different sources, including stormwater discharges in our rivers. I have used cross processing of film (developing slide film in print film chemicals and technology) to signify manipulation and developed film at heightened temperatures as a metaphor for the effects of climate change.  All images have been soaked in river water collected downstream of a stormwater discharge point to illustrate pollution of our watercourses. 

The resulting images challenge the boundaries between photography and painting/printmaking.