Art

What a flower is, and where it is, tells us just as much about that individual plant as about the person who planted it or displaced it with another. Throughout history plants have been discovered (by botanists), relocated (by gardeners), collected (by plant hunters), honoured (by artists), revered (in the Tulip mania), and destroyed (as weeds).

 

If we understand the origins of flowers then we understand human influence and endeavour – good or bad. Flowers then are living libraries of human stories as much as they exist in their own right.

 

Humans have dispersed plants all over the world and tracking their introduction into Europe maps the exploration of the 'new' worlds. These wonderful exotic plants brought back by royalty and landed gentry in the main were carefully bred and seeds sent out to other private gardens before being commercialised.

 

Here in Australia many ‘crimes against ecology’ have been committed since Cook first landed in 1799. We have the unenviable reputation as the county which has destroyed more native species than anywhere in the world. Great rafts of native plants were cut down and swaths of land turned over for agriculture and then construction before the importance of these plants was recognised.

 

What was chosen to replace these native species tells our history of colonisation.

​

All the flowers used in Annie's work are seeded, grown, and planted by her. They are chosen not just because she loves them but because they are historically accurate to a garden of the Victorian era. These exotics are used in her Floral Portraits series.

As part of ongoing efforts to regenerate the land, native species are being introduced to both garden and farm and are the source of her Night Gardens series.