Pip & Pop debuts her floral exhibition at the Gallery of Botanical Art in Richmond
Australian artist Tanya Schultz known as Pip & Pop presents her debut London exhibition, at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens, Richmond.
When Flowers Dream is inspired by mythologies and folklore and explores themes of consumption, wish fulfilment, and seemingly endless abundance.
Pip & Pop created an immersive installation that uses eye-catching candy colours and an array of materials, including sugar, modelling clay, sweets, as well as objects from her worldwide travels.
When Flowers Dream will showcase a range of sculptural work throughout the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art and will also include a new installation, created with scientists at Kew Gardens.
This hand-assembled, technicolour installation will be filled with foods identified as neglected and underused species to explore the idea of a future food utopia.
Taking the shape of a highly detailed and colourful landscape, the piece draws inspiration from imaginary worlds from legends including Luilekkelerland and the Land of Cockaigne, mythological realms where everything is created from food.
Botanical paintings from Kew’s archive will also form a central part of the exhibition, with a colourful selection of 19th century works showcasing underused edible plant species, including Ensete, Baobab and Granadilla.
Tanya Schultz said: “I’m delighted to be bringing When Flowers Dream to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens and am really looking forward to seeing everything evolve and come to life during the creative process.
“The opportunity to explore vital themes of future foods and food security in collaboration with Kew’s scientists has scarcely felt more timely or important.
“As the impact of climate change weighs heavily on our future, I hope to create a new artwork that is optimistic and allows us to imagine a better world. It will be a visual feast of colour and sweetness, enticing and appealing, yet with serious ideas beneath it.”
Maria Devaney, galleries and exhibitions leader at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew said: “Pip & Pop’s vibrant food fantasia promises to be a wonderful treat for visitors of all ages, and it’s wonderful to be working with Tanya to bring her unique work to fruition here at Kew Gardens.
“As well as being a real visual feast, the exhibition also encompasses hugely important ideas about the way we encounter and interact with our fragile planet, as well as offering a vibrant vision of hope for the future as we each consider our own consumption more closely.”
When Flowers Dream is a part of Kew Gardens new Food Forever summer programme, which explores how food consumption impacts the planet.
The Food Forever exhibition runs from Saturday, May 21 until Sunday, September 18.
For more information, go to www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/food-forever/pip-and-pop-when-flowers-dream
Everyone at the South London Press thanks you for your continued support.
Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing:
“A FREE COUNTRY NEEDS A FREE PRESS, AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE UNDER SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL PRESSURE”
If you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can make a donation which will allow us to continue to bring stories to you, both in print and online. Or please make cheques payable to “MSI Media Limited” and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
