In Roman mythology Flora was the goddess of flowers and of the season of spring. The art of translating and interpreting flowering vegetation onto a ceramic surface has been practiced for centuries in different cultures and regions throughout the world. The plates are carefully installed to reflect the close planting of a British cottage garden, where random planting is essential to create a complex pattern of texture and colour. Collecting is a very similar activity to gardening; it includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organising, cataloguing, displaying, maintaining and storing. Individual plates have been chosen, rather than matching sets, giving an insight into the range of approaches to decoration.
In collecting and displaying these plates, relationships and memories have been evoked – ‘‘Like my Grand Mothers plates’’ – ‘‘I have one like that’’ – ‘‘We had a similar service when we were first married’’.
They are everyday objects we live with and use, they cover all levels of taste and the traditions of social status. Company stamps on the rear of the plates reveal information about their countries of origin, even some that no longer exist i.e. Czechoslovakia. The plates include both French and British ceramic factories, such as Gien, Worcester, Limoges and Wedgwood.
Flora is an ongoing collaborative project between Myfanwy Johns & Joss Burke, it was first shown at Rendez-vous aux Jardin in 2016.
