About the artwork

Two panels painted on canvas with oil paints & finished with sequins to catch the light. Mirror plates fixed in two places each side to secure to wall. I painted this during my eight week residency at Artcore working to the theme ‘Celebrating 70 years of India’s Independence ' I came to this residency having very little knowledge or understanding about the subject. My initial proposal was to paint the beautiful textiles of India, this I did visiting the fabric shops in Normanton, Derby & purchasing a bag full of lace trimmings sketching & painting the patterns. However during this period I also had an installation at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show celebrating Cecile Mary Barker's Flower Fairy books. Each morning before the visitors arrived I visited the huge flower tents alone to enjoy the magnificent blooms. This led me on an unexpected journey discovering the flowers of India, learning the stories of the plant hunters & the shaping of British gardens. During British rule in India plant hunters most importantly, Sir Joseph Hooker, who became Director of Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew brought back exotic flowers from India. This influenced British gardens, he published a book ‘Flora of British India’ in 1872, the first of seven volumes. This inspired the title of my ‘Flora of India’ painting which incorporates some of the most important & striking flowers native to India. I then became fascinated by the importance of India's native flowers, their connections to spirituality, symbolism, medicinal purposes and use during ceremonies & celebrations within different religions. I finished the project by painting a Triptych on Yoga Mats.