Berry Deep!
Some of you will have seen my ‘berry’ work (of course, if you haven’t you should!) Some of the most wonderful, ethereal and engaging works of art – in my humble opinion. The organic nature of the berries means that they take on a life of their own, ever changing, ever new. I am totally at the mercy of the materials and each piece is a surprise from the moment it comes off the press and a joy to watch through its drying and eventual settling in to its new home. I have been researching and studying their behaviour for the past year and I am totally in love with this process and how close I feel to the pieces, small or large. Each day I look, not just a cursory glance at the image, but I study the detail, the pattern, the colour change, the seeds and wonder at the little things I hadn’t noticed before.
I initially started to work with brambles because like rushes they can be considered a nuisance rather than of any great worth. This lead to the use of blackberries in my search for a sustainable environmentally friendly ink/dye. As ‘The Emotional Artist’ I naturally made a connection between the berries and our lives. It comes from a play on the word ‘Buried’ as in ‘buried deep’, like our emotions and feelings. The bramble runners are strong and determined – they will travel along silently seeking out sources of nourishment. They don’t have any particular destination in mind, just singleminded in their quest for growth and as such can emerge anywhere any time. So this collection was first titled ‘Berried deep’.
The prints themselves are mono-prints so no two pieces are the same. The perishable nature of the berries means that they may or may not fade or change colour over time. Simple or complex, they are ever evolving, some faster than others. They are just as beautiful framed or unframed, on textile or paper. Even if the vibrancy of the dye has faded there is a most endearing ethereal presence left behind that will never disappear. And so too our lives…..
And so too our lives……
Úna
