Seeds of Summer

Seeds of Summer is part of a body of drawings exploring themes of connectivity, decay and renewal.  I am fascinated with decaying subject matter and the opportunities it presents for reflecting on the connection between death and regeneration in the natural world and as metaphor for the human psyche.  However, current agricultural practices and other human endeavours transform the adage, “ashes to ashes and dust to dust”, such that it may no longer speak of the great nutrient recycling that is part of the natural history of this planet, but rather what may become of us should we fail to pay our respects to life and its cycles.  In this drawing of dried seeding calendula flowers, the subject rather obviously holds the seeds to new life; less obviously the actual flower petals made the herbal dye which imbues the paper.