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object and find out more about it.
Art and nature
Animals, flowers and landscapes are widely used motifs in art.
Depending on the cultural context, the taste of the time or the
artist’s intention their representations can show a variety of
forms and styles.
While the dignified pose of the bronze figure of a seated cat is
motivated by her association with the Ancient Egyptian goddess
Bastet, Pablo Picasso experimented with the characteristics of an
owl, merging them with the form of a ceramic vase.
With his stainless steel sculpture ‘Scholar’s Rock’, Chinese
artist Zhan Wang refers to the rocks traditionally admired and
contemplated for their elegant forms created by natural forces.
Navajo artist DY Begay captured in her weaving ‘Transition’ the
Northern Arizona landscape in vivid colours.
Nature used and reflected
This section looks into materials and techniques used to create
works of art. Ivory, often intricately carved, or gold represent
materials traditionally considered as precious.
Many contemporary artists explore new materials, making
statements about the impact of human activity on the natural world.
Kazuko Mitsushima addresses the impact of the melting of the polar
ice caps on our environment. The silver band of her ring is
inserted into a piece of clear cut glass at the outer end. By
removing the glass the band will uncoil. Jan Yager reflects on
social issues with her necklace made from found plastic crack
cocaine vials and caps.
Imagined worlds
While the first two sections examine direct links between art
and nature, the next two are concerned with the role and
representation of natural elements in human concepts. The displayed
objects illustrate alternative worlds, peopled by fantastical
creatures of the imagination, or the heroic figures that embody the
struggle between good versus evil.
Dragons and sphinx are mythical beings. St George slaying the
dragon is the subject-matter of an embroidered wall hanging by
Phoebe Anna Traquair, a leading artist of the Arts and Crafts
movement in Edinburgh. Working in a wide range of media, she is
also famous for her murals at the Edinburgh Mansfield Place
Church.
The cosmological painting depicts the Jain universe with the
dark coloured infernal realm and a lighter celestial sphere with
all the living entities progressing on their way to final
liberation.
Characters from Japanese folk tales and legends are depicted in
small carved ivory toggles, called netsuke. They were used
to secure the pouches or boxes which men hung from the sash around
their waists.
Seeing the divine
Past and present, cultures across the world have named creative
and destructive forces of nature. Religious beliefs acknowledge
their existence and associate deities with them.
The Bamana people of Mali celebrate
agriculture in dances performed with antelope headdresses. They
represent Tyi Wara, an ancestor who taught them how to become good
farmers.
In Hinduism, the god Shiva embodies both destruction and
re-creation, constantly restoring what has been destroyed. This
bronze shows him with the goddess Parvati who is considered as his
wife. When the goddess Ganga descended to earth, the force of her
waters was so powerful that Shiva caught the flow in his hair to
prevent the earth being engulfed.