In this ‘swalkeling’ encounter with East German allotments in the former Mecklenburg Vorpommern, I play with vibrant colour and experimental mark making, allowing the image to find its own presence out of the creative process. In ‘Where nature meets culture’ the acrylic on linen paintings from my series ‘In between’, drawings of plants from my series ‘Plant-folio’, plus an assortment of cards and flies are on display.

‘In between’

‘Picking my way around old alleyways and plots of neglected allotments in the former East Germany, I have felt the echo of voices, the warm earth and smell of ripening apples speaking of communities coming together, children playing and running wild, people trading plants and seeds, sharing coffee and cake in their own personal pavilions. ‘In between’ records the remnants of those lives, those stories and this place as a site of creativity, with what remains to tell the tale.’

‘Plant-folio’

‘Using an illustrated catalogue of house plants, I have added drawings of non-native plants from collections in botanical greenhouses and homes. These drawings play on a number of themes – including the way in which plants are categorised, selected and travel as their own diaspora worldwide, due to human intervention. The tension between value and beauty, the permission to enjoy nature as a domestic experience and the juxtaposition of the digital encounter set against the natural environment.

Digitised, edited, printed and reworked, these are fusion drawings Here the semblance of the original plants are re-envisioned with their journeys through my process, from book to paper, visible to the eye.’