Janice Aitken, Reader in Art, Design and Public Engagement at DJCAD, has a new exhibition in the Green Gallery at the Botanic Garden. ‘Anthophilia’ means the love or flowers or the love of plants, depending on which dictionary you use. The works in this exhibition were started during lockdown, when the artist contemplated how important plants, fruit, veg and flowers were to our wellbeing. She started painting small still life pieces that celebrated the beauty of plants in a domestic setting. She found the act of painting them really contributed to her mental wellness in a challenging time and so continued to paint these small, jewel like images as lockdown eased and new challenges emerged.
Set in the beautiful, lush surroundings of the garden, the Green Gallery is the perfect space for this exhibition.
Although her work has recently been in the sphere of large-scale public art and performance projects, the detailed and colourful paintings reflect the artist’s love of the medium of paint and her attention to the importance of small but beautiful things in our domestic lives.
The exhibition is open daily from 11.00 – 3.00. The dates are 14th July till 6th August 2023.
You can read more about Janice and view more of her work at https://www.janiceaitkenartist.co.uk/
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