‘Botanical Fictions’ by Vicki Mason
“Plants have the potential to tell stories about our lives and the societies we live in.”
Vicki is enthralled by plants as subject matter and the potential they have to tell stories about our lives and the societies we live in. Her new series of works, ‘Botanical Fictions’, feature an ornamental vocabulary of plant-based forms that Vicki developed over the period of her recent study.
The works combine mixtures of materials and processes. Remnant plastics from the stationery industry are used alongside thread and various metals to create jewellery. Low-tech domestic craft processes and various textile and metal processes/techniques (both hand-fabrication and industrial processes) have been mixed in this series. The traditionally clear identities and conceptual frameworks often assigned to these materials or techniques are blurred and questioned.
“The decorative shapes and motifs created were inspired by my research into indigenous plants found in Australian colonial jewellery and silversmithing objects,” says Vicki. “Furthermore, plant motifs used on ironstone china wares (more specifically chinoiserie motifs) and the forms of local endemic plants from the south-east of Melbourne where I currently live, are also explored in the series.”
For Vicki, melding these three very different strands of research was a way of embracing the decorative potential of plant forms of Australian and imported origin in order to combine them to tell a personal story. It is a story that speaks to ideas associated with migration, complexity, abundance, diversity, identity, hybridity and belonging.
“Vicki’s work always displays a unique sense of beauty and innovation,” says Emma Goodsir, director of e.g.etal. “Materials, form, colour and texture combine in a charming way to create beautiful work that is conceptually engaging and technically daring.”
Photography: Johannes Kuhnen
