Are the patterns of our past, the imprints of our experience, indelible? The creation of Botanica: Patterns of Growth reveals the answer. I have come to understand how the forms found in nature remain constant even as I recreate them, interpret them, and lend them new relationships. I have discovered, in this process, the truth that is relevant to me: form is constant; growth is a gift; and if we are to evolve we must accept what is indelible, embrace what is, and find beauty in what nature has bestowed upon us.

I arrange the plant materials I collect and, using a white background, digital camera, and Photoshop, I create a new vision of nature’s shapes and forms. I build upon similarities, differences, patterns and shapes inherent in the plant. The end results of these constructions are sometimes reminiscent of traditional botanical drawings and sometimes they emerge as stylized, graphic images that resemble botanically unrelated plants or blossoms.

The reward of this process is a well-ordered intimacy with the natural world around me.

Tara Gill