Tracey Bush
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Botany

Tracey Bush's ongoing Nine Wild Plants series is a body of work spanning more than ten years that includes drawings, small sculptures, unique bookworks and an editioned  artist's book. Drawings from the series have been acquired by the Yale Centre for British Art, CT, USA for their permanent collection, as well as by numerous private collectors.

Bush's work has often dealt with the impact that man makes on the environment and she began Nine Wild Plants after reading ecological thinkers, including Paul Hawken, who notes that the average Western adult can recognise over 1000 brand names or logos, but fewer than ten local, indigenous plants. Posing the question 'Which nine wild plants could you confidently identify?' Bush began emailing a range of people and collecting their responses. Texts from these email exchanges are reproduced in a small artist's book and form the basis of a series of unique, transparent bookworks that include original line drawings of the plants described.

Central to the project is an ongoing series of large-scale, collages drawings including the stinging nettle, buttercup and poppy. These works interweave a theme of lost knowledge with the rigour of scientific specimens. Bush referred to the Herbarium Handbook as well as to her own observed drawings to make templates for hand-drawn plant silhouettes; she then collaged fragments of found materials illustrating sweet packet, cigarette and fizzy drink logos etc. The combination of austere black line drawing with the attention-grabbing colours and type styles of brand names and packaging is compelling.

  • Tracey Bush - Herbarium

    Herbarium

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - The Little Clod of Earth (after Dürer)

    The Little Clod of Earth (after Dürer)

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - A Spoonful of Earth

    A Spoonful of Earth

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - Chalk Hill

    Chalk Hill

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - Nine Wild Plants

    Nine Wild Plants

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - The Nitrogen Series

    The Nitrogen Series

    Botany
  • Tracey Bush - Primroses and Bird's Eggs (after Henry Hunt)

    Primroses and Bird's Eggs (after Henry Hunt)

    Botany

Tracey Bush

This is the website of British artist Tracey Bush. Tracey's delicate and subtle plant studies, artist's books and cut-paper pieces reference traditions of Natural History collecting.

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©2019 Tracey Bush. All rights reserved. No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.