LAURA PATTERSON

FERN CLOUDS

Sophie Gannon Gallery

24 May 2022 – 11 Jun 2022

Laura Patterson’s artistic practice is informed by her background in architecture and her continued investigation of visual art as a means of synthesising multiple ideas into a single object.
While interest across historical research and technical precision underpin her work, her central focus is on capturing the ambiguity that exists between reality and illusion in her figurative landscapes.
Her recent work examines pockets of old growth rainforest ferns, which began as a response to the early 2020 Australian bushfires when ancient forests that had never before seen fire were burned and threatened.
The duality of this series presents moments of our natural landscapes, protectively housed within elaborate framing devices.
The fern types depicted in these works have historically been considered prized plant specimens, frequently transported around the world to satisfy horticultural fashions.
The frames touch on the historical link between these landscapes and the architecture that was created to house and transport them.
Rather than select specimens being taken from their ecosystem and cultivated within manmade glasshouses, these landscapes and frames exist symbiotically.

"All the paintings for the show are depictions of the fern trees at Ballanjui Falls - Lamington Park. About 2hrs south of Brisbane.
I created drawing and photographic studies on the walks and the paintings were all created at my home studio in Brisbane."
- Laura Patterson