Night Botanicals

Night Botanicals at General Hardware Contemporary, August 26 - September 24, 2023

Standing trees sleep in this forest that it created the night when the moon was looking elsewhere. Gone the sailboats, the sea, in this obscurity that’s keeping no promise.

~ NIGHT - Etel Adnan

For each project or body of work, I first need to develop a structure to work within — some gestural, subliminal invitations to guide the work in a particular conceptual direction. Night Botanicals explores botanical forms, shadowy ghosts and wind patterns: small contained architectures deeply embedded in organic environments that themselves are caught up in wild weather, roaming the back of a fictional wind. There is an intertwining relationship between botanical forms, planetary shapes, audio spectrum, distant constellations, and molecular components suspended in space and darkness. In addition to my observation of the natural world, my work is inspired by a zeitgeist of images. I combine these elements into an integrated dialogue to tell a distinct, dark narrative. The mysterious story unfolds through the synthesis of these elements. Through this amalgam of visuals, I can invent a narrative that visually evokes a dark and unknown composition. The state of the environment and the toxic colours interrupt any romanticism. Usually, something jumps out at me as a central point. Then, it’s a matter of drawing out that glimmer of light from the shadowy darkness. From here, I can build a narrative of colour, form, and line around the central idea, pushing it into the light.

Review by Mikael Sandblom for ARTORONTO.CA