Alarm clocks, china teacups and dead leaves swirl out of an open wardrobe. This is no scene from Narnia or Wonderland but the lower floor of the O3 Gallery. It’s been transformed for the Horti-CULTURE exhibition by Lisa Busby’s quirky installation, ‘Moths Wings’, which picks at assumptions about the relationship between interior spaces and the outside world. The installation is an enchanting muddle of bric-a-brac from bygone eras of lace and LPs. There’s a sharp edge to the cutesiness though. Photos of Busby pinned to the inside of the wardrobe keep company with pressed butterflies and a mounted scorpion.
Horti-CULTURE invites visitors to reflect on nature, and man’s relationship with it in the garden and in art. ‘Moths Wings’ may be a big talking point, but there’s no one show-stealer. Exhibits from nationally-known names include sinewy botanical illustrations by author and artist Sarah Simblet, and clean-lined compositions by 2010 Royal Horticulture Society Photographer of the Year, Linda Wride.
Among the different media on offer from other artists are oils, etchings, lithography, sculpture and collage. The sleight of perspective in Bee Bartlett’s mixed-media tree canopies is enough to induce vertigo. Diana Ashdown’s ‘Paeonia’ brings out every crinkle in every petal of the flouncing bloom. In Morna Rhys’s haunting ‘Usk Castle’, jellyfish-shaped heads of cow’s parsley drift before darkened battlements.
There’s one faint grumble to be had and it’s aimed at the organisers, not the artists. I found out more about the theme and exhibitors by visiting the gallery website than by visiting the gallery itself. Still, Horti-CULTURE will delight and fascinate plant lovers and art aficionados alike. With a British summer setting in, it may even be a safer bet than the Botanic Gardens for an afternoon’s entertainment. After all, where else can you snuggle in a human-sized nest sculpture?
Horti-CULTURE invites visitors to reflect on nature, and man’s relationship with it in the garden and in art. ‘Moths Wings’ may be a big talking point, but there’s no one show-stealer. Exhibits from nationally-known names include sinewy botanical illustrations by author and artist Sarah Simblet, and clean-lined compositions by 2010 Royal Horticulture Society Photographer of the Year, Linda Wride.
Among the different media on offer from other artists are oils, etchings, lithography, sculpture and collage. The sleight of perspective in Bee Bartlett’s mixed-media tree canopies is enough to induce vertigo. Diana Ashdown’s ‘Paeonia’ brings out every crinkle in every petal of the flouncing bloom. In Morna Rhys’s haunting ‘Usk Castle’, jellyfish-shaped heads of cow’s parsley drift before darkened battlements.
There’s one faint grumble to be had and it’s aimed at the organisers, not the artists. I found out more about the theme and exhibitors by visiting the gallery website than by visiting the gallery itself. Still, Horti-CULTURE will delight and fascinate plant lovers and art aficionados alike. With a British summer setting in, it may even be a safer bet than the Botanic Gardens for an afternoon’s entertainment. After all, where else can you snuggle in a human-sized nest sculpture?