Endangered Plants Index Degree Project

From 15th – 21st October, I had residency of the Project Space in the R206 studios – which gave me a space to exhibit my now complete illustration of Cleyera orbicularis. I was slightly apprehensive of the idea of exhibiting my work, as there is so little of it – each illustration taking days to complete – but I put a positive spin on it, by deciding to see it as an opportunity to experiment with how I would want to exhibit and display my work (for example in the degree show).

As previously discussed, I had had some thoughts on certain elements of the display – for instance, I knew that I definitely wanted my design of a botanical label to be central in the exhibition – so it had to be central in display as well. (I did try it with the label to the left, however, it didn’t look even or visually correct – the idea of the botanical label is to reinforce the semantics that this is a living plant – rather than just an illustration or piece of art, and botanical labels are always displayed centrally to the plant.) I didn’t have time (or the funds at this stage) to frame my work – so I fixed it to the wall with blu-tack – however, this was a valuable exercise, as it proved that the works did in fact need framing – the whiteness of the page and the whiteness of the wall just blended together, confusing the distinction between the work and the room. I do not, however, want overpowering frames (this is something that I will come back to later, once I have proceeded further with my project) – rather frames with a narrow border, or either black or dark green (an idea of a friend: to use the green to reinforce the connection between the art and plants), which just create a separation between the work and the structure of the room – and bring the focus of the audience securely back to the work and the object of the project – rather than letting their attention wander.

The two images above show how I decided to display my work: the piece to the left is a photocopy of the drawing before I filled the leaves in, the central piece is the ‘final’ completed piece, and the piece to the right in a copy which I worked into. I decided not to add botanical labels to these, as these show working – and are not what I would want to exhibit for the completion of the project – but as this was an exhibition of my work so far – rather than an exhibition of my project – it seemed appropriate to exhibit them here. I am going to look further at the work Monument by Susan Hiller, not for the work itself – but the fact that it is made up of archive materials (which effectively, is what my project is going to be – an archive of the most endangered plants in the world), and I want to investigate the way in which she exhibited them, whilst retaining the key fact that they are an archive. 

In addition to Cleyera orbicularis, I also exhibited two photocopies of my original illustration practices – which were crucial for developing my techniques and mastering the minimalism in detail that botanical illustration with pen and ink requires. These took less prominence than Cleyera orbicularis, as unfortunately, when I went to Kew Gardens and took the photo which I used as reference to draw these two images, I forgot to note the name of the flower, and I have been unable to identify it since. They were however key to my completion of Cleyera, so I chose to exhibit them alongside it.

Overall, I was extremely happy with my residency and exhibition of work – it was an invaluable experience of what it is like to have a space that is purely your own (something that I shall need for when I share my project with the world) to exhibit in and curate. The feedback I got from talking my peers through my work, and letting them explore the ideas that I have incorporated into it was fascinating and invaluable also. (For some, the semantics of the botanical label hadn’t even occurred – which is interesting, when I have invested much into the idea of people instantly understanding the semantics! However – I will stick with it, as I am also pleased with how the botanical label reacts with the work visually, and it would be a missing piece – I feel – if it were removed.)

Review: 27/10/21: I am still incredibly proud of this drawing – I think particularly because I have accepted the ink blot as part of the work. Although it removes some of the accuracy from the drawing, it doesn’t detract from the image itself, and it shows an acceptance on my part, of something that I was unable to control – which is a big step in my art and shows my progression as an artist and a person. I still need to investigate more pens for drawing, as my current one is too unreliable for my needs – but I don’t want to change the medium, as it has been very successful overall, and has the level of accuracy, detail and adaptability of line and mark making whilst remaining precise which is crucial to botanical illustration.

The above image is my completed drawing of Cleyera Orbicularis (1), which is a plant that I found on the Kew Plants of the World Website. I’m extremely pleased with the final result of this drawing, as it is full of achievements for me: it was my first drawing using a photograph of a herbarium specimen, it was my first attempt at drawing true to scale (using the ruler at the side of the reference image) and it was my first ‘full’ section of a plant that I drew, incorporating a large number of leaves and structural details.

The whole process was very long and laborious – drawing to scale took a long time, as I first had to measure the features (which I did on my iPad for ease), and then translate that into an actual drawing on paper – trying to replicate the reference image as faithfully as possible. It wasn’t possible for me to be 100% accurate without tracing the image, as I only had a limited set of tools (pencil and a ruler), but I am happy that the final outcome is as true to life and accurate as possible. I then traced around my pencil outline with pen and ink, before starting to fill it in.

I then started to fill in the leaves and stem – choosing to fill the stem in first, before moving onto the much more detailed and time-consuming leaves. I made sure to keep in mind that less is more when adding in the shading and detail – something which I learnt in the first drawing I completed. This was a difficult balance in this drawing however, as I wanted to create definition between the ‘front’ and ‘backs’ of leaves – which had completely different textures and colours. However, I feel that I have achieved an equal balance – managing to make the leaves distinct, without compromising the overall clarity of the image.

As you can see from the above image, an unhappy accident befell my drawing – in the form of the large ink-droplet which landed on my drawing whilst I was packing my pen away. I cleaned it up the best I could, but I couldn’t remove it entirely from the paper. This was extremely frustrating for me, as I had spent such a long amount of time working on the drawing to this point, and I had wanted it to be my first ‘perfect’ drawing which I could display on the wall of the project space when I take it over this week. I considered trying to cover the blot up, however, I decided that in the long-run, this would actually look worse rather than better, and to just keep it as a part of the drawing. Although I am disappointed by the fact that it is there, I have come to peace with it, and finished the drawing regardless.

I am still very pleased with the final result of the drawing, and I am looking forward to experimenting with displaying it on the wall in the project space this coming week.

1. Reference image was taken from the Kew Herbarium, via the Kew Plants of the World Online Website. Kew Gardens. (N.D) Cleyera orbicularis Herbarium Specimen. Available at: http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60751-2 (Accessed: 12/10/2021)

Review: 27/10/21: The botanical label (which I used in my exhibition Botanica during my residency in the project space) is a big success. Although not everyone understood or made the connection between the semantics of the botanical label and my drawing of the endangered plant, the information it provided (especially the addition of the QR Code – although not everyone’s code read the same – I need to investigate this!) was a big attention draw, and it helped people understand the connection between the drawing and the information on the label – even if everyone didn’t understand the connection between the label’s use in a botanical garden for live plants, and my drawing of an endangered one. It was a success overall – I now need to experiment with different papers, inks, etc. for printing, as I want the process to be as environmentally impact-less as possible.

Following on from my post last week…

I have finished my first ‘proper’ drawing – although it isn’t one of the plants off my final list, the drawing is the first that I have completed based on a herbarium specimen (more on this later).

The plant that I chose to draw was Cleyera Orbicularis (a plant that I found on the Kew Plants of the World Website), and I have viewed it as a full practice for my work – including creating a botanical label for it.

I have decided (after a tutorial last week) to create my labels using biodegradable materials, such as paper and cardboard (the cardboard I have used here is actually recycled packaging), which have a much lesser environmental impact than the plastic that is the standard material for botanical labels (as they have to withstand the elements). I would like to research recycled paper, etc. for creating the labels with.

Overall, I am very pleased with the final outcome of the labels – they need some perfecting, but they look fairly professional (something which will increase with better printing and materials) and the information conveyed and the final design I am 100% happy with, as it keeps the style of the botanical label, whilst also telling the audience about the plant in detail and is much more interactive (and hopefully accessible) than a standard botanical label.

Source: Reference image was taken from the Kew Herbarium, via the Kew Plants of the World Online Website. Kew Gardens. (N.D) Cleyera orbicularis Herbarium Specimen. Available at: http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60751-2 (Accessed: 12/10/2021)

I have become really fixed and excited on the idea of using the medium of the plant label in combination with my illustrations, as not only is it a link to the work of Alec Finlay, which I really enjoy, but it also uses an instantly recognisable object (with a specific link to living plants) to ground my work in the imagery and semiotics of botany and botanical referencing and recording.

To be able to use the labels correctly, I have done a little research into the layout and meaning of different parts of the label – the below image is from the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens website, and explains what each part of the label means:

As you can see here, there are multiple sections of the label pertaining to the name of the plant – as many plants have both a scientific (latin) name and a common one, (which are both displayed in the centre of the label – one below the other respectively) in addition to the name of the Family (Kingdom, Phylum, Order, Family, Genus, Species), which is displayed small in the top right-hand corner. In the bottom left-hand corner, there is the Natural Distribution of the plant – effectively telling you on which continent the plant is found natively. Then in the top left-hand corner, there is the Accession Number, which tells you about that individual plant, and in the bottom right-hand corner is the provenance of the plant (basically, where it was grown).

Having learnt this, I have then taken the elements of the label which have the most relevance for my project and what I want to use them for, and created my own, modified but still instantly recognisable, form of botanical label, as shown in the image below:

In my design, you can see that I have deliberately kept all of the elements pertaining to the name and distribution of the plant, as these are key pieces of information. However, the plant’s provenance and Accession Number are only of real use when used in botanical gardens as a means of keeping track of the individual plants they have collected there. As I am creating illustrations of plants, I have removed these pieces of information and replaced the Provenance with a QR Code which will take you to a page of information about the plant (which I am yet to create). Where the Accession Code is, I want to try and create my own code, which gives information about the conservation status of the plant, as I have a spreadsheet of information waiting to be used!I am not sure exactly how the code would look, but I am going to work on creating one over the next few days.

Source: Cambridge Botanic Garden (2022) Understanding Plant Labels. Available at: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/the-garden/understanding-plant-labels/ (accessed: 12 October 2021)

One area that my work will undoubtedly fall into, but I hadn’t considered was art with words, as the names of the plants themselves are just as crucial as their imagery – despite being much less accessible (the majority of the plants on my list have names in latin only).

In a tutorial last week, the name Alec Finlay was mentioned to me, as in  2002, he created Mesostic Plant Labels – a form of acrostic poem based on the names of different plants, using the distinctive style of botanical labels (the labels which are used to label plants in botanical gardens) as the format.

As you can see from the examples above, Finlay used the basic graphic imagery of the label, using the same type-face, materials and colours, but changed the layout to suit his own needs. The use of the traditional format of the botanical labels is a very interesting and clever one, as it creates an instant link for the audience between the subject and his poem – using semiotics to ground the project. This is something that I would like to use in my project, as instead of handwriting the labels of the plants (as is standard practice with scientific and botanical illustrations), the use of this style of label will subconsciously reinforce to the audience that this is a living plant – not just the subject of a botanical illustration. This also creates space for them to be used as labels when exhibiting the illustrations:

The above image is an idea or example of how the botanical labels could be utilised in an exhibition scenario – drawing the attention of the audience to the plant itself rather than the illustration – which is the overall aim of my project.

I have found a company who produces the labels: Sheen Botanical Labels and they detail a little of the process and materials used in producing them, which provides me with a starting point and something to think about – whether it is viable to make these labels as they are normally, or not.

Sources:

Finlay, A. (2002) Oat Seed Mesostic Poem. [Engraved Plastic] Available at: https://www.alecfinlay.com/mesostic-plant-labels (accessed: 10 October 2021)

Finlay, A. (2002) Beech Mesostic Poem. [Engraved Plastic] Available at: https://www.alecfinlay.com/mesostic-plant-labels (accessed: 10 October 2021)

Sheen Botanical Labels (2002) Products. Available at: https://sheenbotanicallabels.co.uk (accessed: 10 October 2021)