Anthology: Moretonhampstead Herbarium (2019)
A lightbox artwork
(LED lightbox, pressed herbarium samples, linen tape)
The Anthology: Moretonhampstead Herbarium (2019) was one of our first projects of this kind. This lightbox artwork was the result of a 2-year residency in the ancient town of Moretonhampstead. It illuminates the flowers collected by local residents from their gardens and allotments alongside the wildflowers that Amy Shelton gathered from the hedgerows and edges of the moor. It not only celebrates the biodiverse flora growing in the town, but also the diversity of the community who live there.
As part of the residency Shelton worked with the entire school community of Moretonhampstead Primary, and a group of elders at Coppelia House Residential Home. Many of the elderly residents recalled childhood memories of wildflowers growing in abundance where they played, including vermillion Poppies, Ox-Eye Daisies, Yellow Rattle and vibrant blue Flax - all of which have since been in decline.
Anthology: Moretonhampstead Herbarium (2019) is now permanently installed in the Health Centre waiting room as a tribute to the community.
Commissioned by Green Hill Arts
Back to Florilegium.
The GPs, nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives at the Health Centre invited their patients to contribute a pressed flower when visiting the surgery. Plant samples were also collected in the post office, pub, hairdressers, school and cafe, with people of all ages contributing plants that had personal meaning. Each carefully pressed botanical sample tells a quiet, intimate story. By mapping the cherished flowers that are grown for pleasure and for food, the artwork reflects the diversity of the community. Many of the flowers encapsulated in the artwork were submitted with labels explaining their significance to the grower, or simply the OS reference of where they were found. These are interwoven with flowers from wedding bouquets, flowers picked the day a baby was born, and favourite plant samples from the GPs, nurses and midwives working at the Health Centre.