Can you tell us a little about the illustrations you submitted to Blanket
The illustrations featured in the Blue issue of Blanket, are taken from a developing series of ‘Triffid plants’. I have always had a fascination for flora and have spent many an hour drawing plants from life. As a trained Textile Designer, I have skills in turning these sketches into considered repeated patterns and placement prints. Taking influence from my design practice and a personal drive for truthful representation, I have challenged myself in the last year to step back from the plant specimen and experiment with a more fantastical exploration into plant forms, plant structure and the growth process. In saying such I have taken my botanical knowledge of plants and focused on the details, bringing together elements to create studies from my mind’s eye.
What inspires you to make art?
That’s a big question and one I find difficult to articulate. I have always created art in some form, whether it be painting, drawing, textiles, or working with sculptural forms. I can be inspired by a moment, a small textural detail, a colour, a pattern, science, everything and anything. It has never really been a conscious act. When I pick up a pen, something just comes out, almost of its own accord. The inspiration for the ‘Triffid plant’ series, was inspired my John Wyndham's novel ‘The Day of the Triffids’. If I had not created art I would be a Botanist. I am fascinated by the concept of plant life taking control and acting out against humans. We live our lives rarely giving consideration to how much flora sustains our existence. The Triffid series explores the concepts of genetics, survival or the fittest, and the mutations of species over time, a direct response to surviving against human arrogance and human actions. The resilience of plants is an inspiration. I find beauty in the colour, the form and the perfect composition of plant life. From total death and destruction, new life always forms. With the total obliteration of landscapes through the Victoria Bushfires, plant life will return to devastated landscapes, in so doing bringing hope to communities that their towns will rejuvenate. That first sprout of new life bursting through the surface brings me sense of joy, respect and love.
What would you like your art to express about you?
That I have a passion for detail and a desire to bring botanical art into a contemporary setting. I hope that my art allows people to take a moment and focus on those little details, and to appreciate the elements surrounding them, however trivial they may seem in the rush of our technological world. I would love it if someone walked away from one of my paintings with new sense of awareness of their place in our natural environment.
What have you learned from another artist lately?
To let go of fear and explore new avenues. To stop questioning your own abilities, and have the drive and passion to leap into the void! There are several artists I have stumbled across, that are working in collage media. I find this very interesting; I see this as the ultimate challenge. I am inspired by the freedom of colour and freedom of line, unbridled imagination. To take something with one purpose, and transform it into something completely new and separate from its initial intent.
What do you like about the Blanket community?
The Blanket community is so diverse, and inspirational. Blanket Magazine gives creative people a vehicle to share their skills, and to be showcased in a professional manner to the masses. It is an outlet for talent, for hidden and secret idiosyncrasies of the underground art world.
To see more of Amy's work visit her blog The Painted Forest
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