|
Jean Bardon
Title: Flora Japonica
Image Size: 20 x 47 cm
Medium: Etching and Gold Leaf
On viewing the superb collection of the Chester Beatty library, I was particularly struck by the wonderful
Asiatic handscrolls, backed and bordered with patterned silk brocade. Further research led me to the importance
of floral motifs in Chinese and Japanese art. Apart from their beauty, flowers have symbolic significance or
associations with particular times of the year. My image portrays flowers representative of the four seasons -
from Plum blossom, which flowers in January in Asia and is associated with winter and the New Year, to the Chrysanthemum,
a flower of the ninth month, emblematic of longevity. The title of my etching Flora Japonica arises
from the botanical term applied to plants whose origins stem from China or Japan.
|  |
 |
