Herbarium - Fantasy
2022
Nature is a place for imagination, meditation and wisdom. Every little insect and plant is significant in nature preservation. Trees do not make the forest alone, but they work together, in symbiosis with the whole ecosystem. The diversity of forest is so wide that there’s still trees in rainforests that we have not found or recognized. They might die of distinction before we get to know them.
Nature is also culturally diverse. There are stories told about them all over the world. Nature can be mysterious, dreamlike and unknown. You can get lost in the forest, but you can also find a new connection to yourself and to nature there. The artworks of The Herbarium - Fantasy creates a new connection to the imagination. It is a herbarium that is based on imaginated plants and perhaps of those species we still haven’t found.
When one observes the plants with a microscope, recognizing the species becomes wider the wider you look. Lots of species might share one little microscopic detail, but when you widen the image, the plant might be very different than initially thought. In my exhibition I’ve taken influence from the microscopic observation of the plants and the plants of imagination are named by a biologist, Jorge Flores. The names combine different kinds of plants, places and eras.
Through the imagination we can talk about the cultural meaning of nature and its importance to communities. Nature is a home for people and animals, and it has a value in itself. The Herbarium Fantasy describes the diversities and surprises of the nature.
