So Mauve!

Drawing, 95 x 60 cm

One of the strongest concepts in my recent arts practice is serial repetition, allowing a movement beyond simple representation into an artistic enquiry. My series “Efflorescence” (a sub series of “Leaves of Life”) is inspired by traditional botanical drawings and catalogues the flora in my environment.

Repeating the image of the chosen plant applies the idea of Gertrude Stein that “a rose is a rose is a rose…” It also reveals more of the object’s essence, reducing the distance between me—the subject, and the object. We both remain the same, yet change simultaneously—based at this point on another idea from Gertrude Stein: that repetition does not produce exactitude.

I expand my theme by stepping into an almost abandoned cultural space and include handwriting. As reflections and ideas surface, I note them down in cursive handwriting, descriptive and associative, without order or direction, in my two daily languages, German and English.

This drawing shows the flowers of the Jacaranda, native to Latin America and the Carribean, but established in most of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. A truly cosmopolitan tree. I prefer the native Australian flora but must admit that the sea of mauve in the West Australian spring is a feast for my eyes.