Body Botanical: Twigs Blooms and Nudes: January 2022
About
Exuberant photography celebrating nature and the human body. Show Dates: January 4-28 Reception: Free and open to the public. Friday January 7, 2022 6-8p at the Findlay Art League Gallery.
The Body Botanical; Twigs, Blooms and Nudes"
Wendy Chappell-Dick
Artist Statement
If I were to describe what my photographs mean, my most ambitious answer is that I create empowered, exuberant art celebrating nature and the human body.
When I started taking pictures during quarantine 2020, I took selfies - small close ups of my body interacting with the natural and material world, often in a humorous way. To my surprise, what I found entranced and delighted me. The photographs of my body seemed like landscapes and echoed all kinds of botanical shapes.
Once I started looking at nature through an artist’s eyes I found myself fascinated with close up views of flowers and foliage. Just as my body reflected a landscape, these micro views of the natural world seem to reflect the human body everywhere I looked. Sensuous and expressive, my garden became even more wonderful when I intermingled my nude photographs with the winding vines and petals of nature.
I find the sensory process of making a photograph soothing as I deal with loneliness, isolation, and uncertainty. I can step out of my body, look myself without judgement, and slide back into my skin refreshed and mindful of a grounded sense of self. Photography has become a healing tool in my life.
I hope my photos will uplift you and refresh your imagination.
