Beauty cleanses the mind is the title of Exhibition 50. Kate says: My response to the first lockdown was to ask – how could I help? Flowers seemed important given their role in challenging times. This led to research on the hidden meanings of flowers which was used historically as a way to send coded messages. In response I created a series of small bouquets using flowers from my garden. Over six weeks I made six bouquets and took six shots of each using a 1970’s Polaroid camera. These were then offered weekly (on a first come first served basis) and sent for free to a nominated recipient. I posted them with an accompanying letter explaining the gift, the name of their nominator and the flowers meanings. I sent these gifts to people’s isolated parents, front line workers, missed friends and sad children.
This is a reproduction of one of the polaroids and features a bouquet of Peonies, Rose and Aqualija – Good Fortune, Love and Resurrection. It’s part of a larger work called “Wanna Meet me halfway” which features a collection of 18 double sided prints selected from my archives and encourages viewers to make their own exhibition with the contents. Each print is accompanied by piece of writing made by curators and artists I’ve worked with over the last 12 years. Sometimes their words came first and other times I asked them to respond to the selected image. This one features a poem by Mark Richards.