Nature and its forms are explorative themes for artist Dena Kahan who finds fascination in humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This is at the centre of her recent series, ‘The Glass Garden,’ on view at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. ‘The Glass Garden’ was inspired by one of the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s most famous and grand collections, ‘Glass Flowers.’
‘Glass Flowers,’ consists of over 4,000 botanical models with approximately 3,000 on display. The flowers were commissioned in 1886, to glass artisans Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolf, who worked on the project for five decades. Made for botany teaching purposes, the glass acted as a method to replicate the structures of real flowers. Depicting true to life resemblances, the sculptures appear to be in bloom all year round. The collection triggered an interest in Kahan leading her to closely examine and document this historical and breathtakingly admirable showcase.
The practice of drawing is Kahan’s first interpretative response to her subjects. Allowing freedom of expression, she must successfully compose the ‘under-drawing’ before the task of painting begins. She says, “My technique does not allow for over-painting and re-working. I have to get each section of the painting finished before the paint dries. So there are no second chances. I worked from my own photos, taken during brief visits to the museum.” Kahan’s painting techniques force her to work at a fast pace. The larger works may take up to two weeks to finish with smaller works taking around one to two days.
The presentation and display of the ‘Glass Flowers’ collection also holds significance for Kahan. “What interests me is our desire to classify and control nature and the fragility of our control. The ‘Glass Flowers’ are a perfect example of this, being fastidiously observed facsimiles of plants enclosed in a museum case; made of brittle glass and extremely fragile. Translating ideas into images is a curious factor for her, I wanted to transform objects in a museum case into a kind of fantasy world, one which is ambiguous and intriguing,” says Kahan. “The technical challenge was to develop a technique to convey the transparency and reflective qualities of glass.”
‘The Glass Garden’ illustrates obscure methods that test perception, understanding and familiarity. Reflective forms created from the glass encasement boxes impose liquid looking impressions on the flora. Refractions suddenly and spasmodically dart in various directions deviating attention to multiple areas of the paintings. There is a subtle however unavoidable presence of the containment perimeters, which hints that the flowers are merely a representation, a replica of their once living predecessors.
Kahan’s practice has the potential to change however she will continue to explore the themes that have been central to her work; “I have always been interested in the same ideas: the human desire for order, control and perfection, and their impossibility. So I think these ideas will still be the subject of my work, but expressed in a different way.” She will be happy for viewers to feel as though; “They have had a glimpse of a world that is a bit familiar but also unfamiliar, strange and disorienting.” Kahan’s adaptation of the ‘Glass Flowers’ collection delivers a detailed preview from her perspective of this ornamental resting place.
Art Gallery Of Ballarat
8 August to 13 September, 2015
Victoria
Large Glass Garden #1, 2012, oil on linen, 76 x 152cm
Big Jungle, 2014, oil on linen, 122 x 163cm
Courtesy the artist and Gallerysmith, Melbourne
Photography: Ian Hill
