If you are walking round the gallery, the artworks are meant for you

Whenever you visit Kew Gardens, there’s always something in bloom. Spring and summer months at the botanical gardens are especially beautiful, writes Claudia Lee.

This spring, Kew opened a new exhibition.

Included in the price of general admission tickets to the gardens, All the Flowers Are for Me is a must-see.

Pakistani-American contemporary artist Anila Quayyum Agha showcases two stunning sculptures at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.

The first is a steel cube, suspended from the gallery ceiling that fills the room from floor to ceiling with elaborate shadows.

The spectacular turquoise 1.5 metre square cube is laser-cut with elaborate South and Central Asian patterns of flowers and plants.

Bright lights inside the cube throw intricate shadows onto deep orange walls and the shadows fall on visitors, making them part of the artwork.

Ms Quayyum Agha’s work reflects her own experience as a Pakistani woman growing up in the USA.

She said: “When I was growing up, women’s place was in the home, you were discouraged from going outside the home to work or study. It’s happening again now in Afghanistan.

“Women often are the first casualty of any political action.

“The title All the Flowers Are for Me means if you’re walking around here, it’s for you.”

The layered shadows suggest a religious space like a mosque, synagogue or church, while the flowery carvings echo the way Agha has noticed South Asian women bring nature into their homes when they’re discouraged from being a part of public life.

The second installation, on display at the gallery in adjoining rooms is Ms Quayyum Agha’s Stolen Moments I and II.

Plants are cut from polished steel and lit by spotlights, casting crisp shadows on the walls behind them.

On the opposite wall, a shimmering reflection also appears.

This piece was inspired by an artwork from 1503, The Large Piece of Turf by Albrecht Durer.

Durer’s artwork is an early example of botanical art showing plants in their natural, messy state.

Throughout her work, Ms Quayyum Agha combines shapes inspired by Durer with shapes from Islamic art.

For Ms Quayyum Agha, by combining these influences, she is able to reflect colonialism and the erasure of Eastern influences in art, throughout history and how that in turn has become a threat to nature.

She said: “Climate change is affecting the same places in the world that were colonised and paid a large price through loss of labour and resources.

“Nature is one of the casualties of our advancement to more and more riches. These pieces are the ghosts of what we might see in the future.”

All the Flowers Are for Me and Stolen Moments I and II are on display at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, April 1 to September 17.

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/all-the-flowers-are-for-me

 

 

Picture: All the Flowers Are for Me. Picture: RGB Kew