Altar

‘Altar’ was produced soon after the completion of the Botanical series (available at this marketplace), and can be viewed as a culmination of that series, although it stands as a work in its own right. The Botanicals are brightly-coloured depictions of living fauna and flora, but in ‘Altar’ the artist begins to look beyond the transience of life, capturing images of dried plants and seeds, while still including flowers as structural elements within the work. This view is enhanced by the monochromatic approach and choice of Butler finishing, which creates a crisp tension between the artwork and its substrate. This artwork is strongly designed, in that the negative spaces (the areas in gold) are equally as important as the positive spaces. Originally envisaged as a triptych, the artist rejected that idea during the creative process. Remnants of the original triptych design can be seen in the placement of the three pillars which act as visual supports within the work.