This series of glass ‘stamen’ is inspired by a beautiful botanical illustration of Carl Linnaeus’s famously inaccurate ‘Sexual System’ which is part of The Garden Museum ‘s collection.
Linnaeus’s plant taxonomy proposed many groupings and theories that seemed ‘morally unnatural’ to his peers and were considered extremely controversial in his day.
Although later systems of classification largely employed more morphological evidence, his binomial system of nomenclature and his hierarchical system of classification, although modified, has remained standard for over 200 years.
This series redraws, interprets and celebrates the ‘sexual’ behaviours and pollination strategies of plants and flowers through vibrant coloured glass – using traditional ‘lamp working’ techniques and reformed laboratory glassware.
Originally commissioned by Danielle Arnaud and the Parabola Trust as part of the group exhibition ‘Diversions’ at The Garden Museum , the stamen pieces have subsequently been presented at The Linnean Society London’s as part of their celebrations of Carl Linnaeus’s 300th anniversary, The Dissenters’ Chapel gallery at Kensal Green Cemetery , London (one of Britain’s oldest public burial grounds), The Black Swan (Frome) and The Stash gallery, London.
Inspired by Ehret’s famous botanical illustration of Carl Linnaeus’s ‘Sexual System’ , these stamen works (and related ‘seed’ series) continue to evolve in response to different historic artefacts from museum collections, and new commissions and presentation opportunities.
A small booklet about this work can be downloaded here Linnaeus_Booklet_HiRes
New artworks may be commissioned and developed for a wide range of scales and contexts.
