John Ingleton’s sophisticated printing is an investigation into how we think about nature.
We embed ourselves in a place through the built environment and the topography but also through the flora. John investigates how flora is transportable and sometimes carries a remarkable history with it. We can see some of the plants from his elegant works growing in the Tasmanian bush. We may also see them in Josephine Beauharnais’ garden at Malmaison outside Paris where, gathered by French naturalists two centuries ago, many Australian plants found a new home.
It is a romantic idea to follow our plants, two hundred years later, to see whether they thrived or languished. Like European convict plantings some indeed did well, rather too well in some cases, while others didn’t survive the uprooting.
His works also reference the history of the artist’s mark. We can see that the background of many works are digitally hatched, a contemporary nod to the artist’s hand at a time when the artist is more likely to be using a tablet and pen than a pencil. Silhouetted plants float along Parisian streets or Tasmanian landscapes carefully hand varnished to emphasise their alienness.
Title image is Lake Peddar, 1800’s
