MARIAN MAGUIRE – Botanical Folio – 18 July-11 Aug, 2023
A new suite of paintings and drawings on paper.
While researching towards The Enlightenment Project, Marian Maguire stumbled upon the microscopic investigations of Nehemiah Grew, a seventeenth century plant anatomist. She was inspired by his remarkable illustrations of the cellular structure of leaves, stems, seeds and roots, published in ‘The Anatomy of Plants’ 1682, that revealed a view of nature hitherto unseen.
Plants are naturally rhythmic. They grow according to a pre-ordained pattern with variation only occurring when there is fluctuation in the environment, eg. more or less light, water, wind, food. The consistency of a plant’s intention is something Maguire very much likes and takes time to observe both in her garden and in the natural world.
Many of these images flow onward from her geometric work, albeit more curvaceously. In some she ruffles the rhythm. In others there is reference to Gordon Walters and his use of the koru, itself a derivation of growth patterns.
The larger works (above) are painted or drawn on Khadi Indian cotton rag paper with its uneven handmade edge. They are approximately 1000 x 670mm unframed.
The 7 small drawings (below) are on BFK Rives Tan, 250g and are presented framed, 425 x 385mm.
