Standing beneath a canopy of giant green textile leaves and enormous pink flowers with glitter ball centres, I feel like Alice in Wonderland. In fact, I’m in Coventry, where ‘JOY…Inspired By Nature’ has just opened at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.
Central to the exhibition is ‘How does your garden grow?’, a floral installation crafted by the hands of not one but two Midlands-based artists, Nicola Richardson and Marianne Taviner. Together they formed Vortex Creates in 2008 and have since spent 16 years transforming spaces with colourful, creative designs.
During lockdown, the duo began to research how and where people find joy. “We received an overwhelming response that for so many, it’s through nature”. With this thought planted, and following their fine art roots, they devised an immersive show, which celebrates the connections between creativity and the natural world, with their characteristic sprinkling of magic.
Wanting to work collaboratively, the pair created a call out for local artists to contribute to the exhibition, and from 167 responses selected 16 practitioners to join their curated garden.
Among them is Aaron Law, whose photograph of Elkin Wood blooming with bluebells has been printed across the entire back wall. It’s an expansive, vivid vision of nature’s untouched beauty which Law found on his doorstep:
“The ancient woodland is near to where I live and next to the river Sherbourne, which is the main river of Coventry, a city founded next to it, so I thought it was the perfect thing for the exhibition.
I also thought it captured ‘Joy’ in spring and new life and how precious nature is to all of us over centuries. It can quickly be lost though, the path running through the photo didn’t exist when I first started visiting the woods showing how we can impact nature and change it for future generations”.
This theme of protecting nature weaves throughout the exhibition, which has been created for the main part using sustainable materials. Richardson and Taviner, for instance, have recycled fabrics from past projects to grow their hanging garden from which tassels dangle, reflecting their approach to “playing” with materials.
There is a playfulness to the entire exhibition, which welcomes visitors to wander in and out of the artworks that carry ecological messages lightly. One highlight is a huge yurt, covered in fabric ivy leaves by Vortex Creates, which points to the power of re-wilding, while inviting audiences to step inside and become characters in their own story.
A fairytale feel defines the show, for which Hannah Rollason has contributed a patch of white ceramic pumpkins, neatly laid out on a bed of peat-free soil. These symbolic objects carry layers of meaning, and references from the historical and literary to the contemporary. “The main emphasis of this work is to raise questions surrounding consumerism, novelty, agriculture and progression, says the artist.
Gavin Munro, meanwhile, has grown his own ‘chair orchard’, encouraging trees to form the shape of chairs as they go along before harvesting them. From willows planted years ago, he has crafted elegant hexagonal willow structures, which are suspended from the ceiling, casting shadows on the dark blue walls as they spin slowly.
The entire exhibition seems to respond as I move through it. Beyond the visual experience, sounds and scents bring the space to life. Gemma Costin has created an intoxicating scentscape, with fresh rhubarb, grapefruit and bergamot filling the air.
My own footsteps are also met with an upbeat, electronic soundscape by Ashley James Brown. The track travels through the four seasons, with samplings from nature and birdsong adding another layer to the contemporary wonderland.
His sounds carry me to a more traditional photograph displayed on the wall, ‘Study in Blue’ by Mandip Singh Seehra. For this digital image, the artist has focused on the seed head of a dandelion, lighting it with a blue tint to add an air of enchantment. This simple but compelling portrait of a plant stops me in my tracks, and I slow down to take in nature’s intrinsic patterns and artistry.
The natural world has always been a muse for artists, and it’s clear that it will be for as long as we nurture it. ‘JOY…inspired by nature’ draws out its patterns, colours, abstract spirals and delicate structures. As Richardson and Taviner point out, “many forms don’t look real, so we pushed the play in that and exaggerated reality”.
Their aim is to showcase “the never-ending surprises” found within nature, which this show achieves in a fun and playful manner, through ambient lighting, neon whirls and a touch of glitter.
The duo also stress that “the exhibition is for absolutely everyone. We want audiences to step inside and take a moment out of their everyday lives”. This has been my experience, as I have escaped into their garden of earthly delights, taking in the multi-sensory joy of nature in its myriad forms.
‘JOY…Inspired By Nature’ runs until Sunday 22 September 2024 at Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry. A free events programme includes sound making workshops, floral mask-making and other creative activities for all the family.
