Annette Marie Townsend
Aliens 1956, 2021
Beeswax collected from the beehives on the roof of National Museum Cardiff, artists’ beeswax, paraffin wax, tinned copper wire, tissue paper, cotton thread, artists’ pigments, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish. Mounted on a stainless steel plate with stainless steel strips.
41.5 x 26 cm
16 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.
Framed:
60 x 46 x 12 cm
16 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.
Framed:
60 x 46 x 12 cm
Copyright The Artist
‘Aliens 1956’ is the first of three artworks from the ‘Aliens’ series, a collaboration between Townsend and Sally Whyman, the curator of vascular plants at the Welsh National Herbarium, National...
‘Aliens 1956’ is the first of three artworks from the ‘Aliens’ series, a collaboration between Townsend and Sally Whyman, the curator of vascular plants at the Welsh National Herbarium, National Museum Cardiff.
The project aimed to bring to life the historic scientific work and personal stories of botanists whose pressed collections of alien plants, non-native and introduced by man, are represented in the herbarium. Covid restrictions were in place so the collaborative research was conducted via email and the plant specimens at the museum were digitally scanned allowing the artist remote access to the collections.
Using beeswax samples collected by Whyman from the beehives on the roof of the museum, Townsend created three-dimensional lifelike representations of the flat pressed specimens. The beeswax sculptures were then mounted on custom-made stainless steel plates with stainless steel strips and epoxy printed collector data labels, to represent the original herbarium sheets, in a juxtaposition of historic and modern materials and techniques.
‘Aliens 1956’ is based on the digitally scanned image of a passion flower specimen (Passiflora caerulea) from the Welsh National Herbarium, collected in 1956 in the glasshouse at Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales by Departmental Attendant J. W. Davies. P. caerulea is a perennial climber native to South America which has been deliberately introduced to other parts of the world as an attractive cultivated garden plant with its uniquely constructed flowers. This climber with tendrils is often planted by walls and fences where it persists even when neglected.
In the 'Aliens' series, Townsend uses the ancient medium of beeswax and botanical sculpting techniques in an innovative and contemporary way, telling stories of science and discovery. Townsend has developed the highest skill in this historic craft and has been recognised as a master in her field. The 'Aliens' collaboration explores the sharing of this expert knowledge across disciplines, bringing the art of the past and significant natural history collections to life for a modern audience.
The project aimed to bring to life the historic scientific work and personal stories of botanists whose pressed collections of alien plants, non-native and introduced by man, are represented in the herbarium. Covid restrictions were in place so the collaborative research was conducted via email and the plant specimens at the museum were digitally scanned allowing the artist remote access to the collections.
Using beeswax samples collected by Whyman from the beehives on the roof of the museum, Townsend created three-dimensional lifelike representations of the flat pressed specimens. The beeswax sculptures were then mounted on custom-made stainless steel plates with stainless steel strips and epoxy printed collector data labels, to represent the original herbarium sheets, in a juxtaposition of historic and modern materials and techniques.
‘Aliens 1956’ is based on the digitally scanned image of a passion flower specimen (Passiflora caerulea) from the Welsh National Herbarium, collected in 1956 in the glasshouse at Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales by Departmental Attendant J. W. Davies. P. caerulea is a perennial climber native to South America which has been deliberately introduced to other parts of the world as an attractive cultivated garden plant with its uniquely constructed flowers. This climber with tendrils is often planted by walls and fences where it persists even when neglected.
In the 'Aliens' series, Townsend uses the ancient medium of beeswax and botanical sculpting techniques in an innovative and contemporary way, telling stories of science and discovery. Townsend has developed the highest skill in this historic craft and has been recognised as a master in her field. The 'Aliens' collaboration explores the sharing of this expert knowledge across disciplines, bringing the art of the past and significant natural history collections to life for a modern audience.