‘Plantation’, StudionAme 2020
Plantation is the latest solo exhibition from Tim Fowler consisting of a brand new series of works based around botanical colonial commodities.
During the Covid 19 pandemic Tim discovered a new love of horticulture. The many Lockdowns affording plenty of time for Tim to tend his garden and after receiving a gift of a mature Banana plant by a fellow artist his newly found passion was solidified.
Enchanted by the plants large, elegant textural leaves as well as it’s rapid growing temperament Tim began using the plant in his studio as his new subject, painting it from life, seldom done in his practice before. During this time Tim’s work took a dramatic shift in scale and approach creating striking new works imposing in size yet delicate in execution. The scale enabled Tim to experiment with new techniques including the use of a paint filled fire extinguisher. A variety of nozzles powered by compressed air. Self constructed elongated brushes, mops, brooms and squeegees. A commanding triptych titled potassium was created.
From this Tim wanted to develop these new methods and explore the subject matter further. Receiving Arts Council England funding allowed him to continue researching further into his own Bajan heritage and connections with these specific plants. After reading more about the founding of Barbados, the subsequent European colonisation and slave trade, Tim took a DNA ancestry test. The results of which surprised him as the Caribbean doesn’t show up genetically, instead showing pre slave trade African countries. Tim’s further research led to finding that tobacco, cotton, ginger, sugar cane and indigo were more specific to Bajan cultivated commodities during that time. Subsequently creating a new series of botanical paintings based on some of these other plants. This new body of work explores these botanical commodities with mesmerisingly vivid colours.
Tim’s signature colour palette of extremely bright and intense hues makes his work distinctly recognisable. His organic relationship with paint and colour constantly evolves and shines through, as he experiments with opacity, texture combinations, finishes and light.
