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Zina Swanson: Any Plant Thought of Too Much Will Not Thrive

Archive viewing_room
19 November - 19 December 2020
  • Sumer is pleased to present Any Plant Thought of Too Much Will Not Thrive, an exhibition of new work by Zina Swanson.

     

    In these works (all 2020) Swanson draws on plant-related lore to interrogate the way we live with plants. Geraniums growing in an open window will prevent flies from entering the room. Any plant thought of too much will not thrive. These curious phrases and others like them form the basis for a collection of immaculate watercolour and acrylic paintings that are humorous and uncanny while also hinting at a darker view of humanity’s relationship to the natural world.

     

    The phrases are borrowed from Animal and Plant Lore (1899), an anthology of oral English language histories. Swanson says she is interested in how we force histories onto plants as a way to understand them. Her practice has previously used passages from the infamous The Secret Life of Plants (1973), which makes pseudoscientific claims about plant sentience. Plant lore similarly has no scientific founding. These texts, and their peculiar worldview, have given Swanson a fresh way to consider how we make sense of the world around us.

     

    Watercolour has long been a favourite medium, though most of the works are acrylic on canvas. Swanson’s signature precision is still very much on display though. The visual pleasure of her use of repetition is also undeniable: a silhouette of a head composed of many pressed forget me not flowers; fine yellow lines radiating, almost pulsing around an extended finger; two walls of freckled noses appearing to close in on a blooming tiger lily. This last image is odd, amusing––Swanson often uses repetition to this end. Though take a step back from this work, and the noses collectively could be mistaken for a pair of menacing wasp nests. Swanson also aims to unsettle.

     

    While the viewer is encouraged to contemplate the futility of a task such as “pointing at a daffodil will keep it from blooming” these works also resonate on a deeper level. Why are we so determined to bend the natural world to our will? In line with this there is always a human presence––the outline of a face, noses, a hand––or something that suggests a human has been here: a window, neatly arranged sticks. The works are smaller in scale, though this is one of their strengths. They’re scaled for an interaction with the viewer that is personal, intimate, and so wonderfully unnerving.

     

     

    Zina Swanson (b. 1981) lives and works in Ōtautahi Christchurch. She has exhibited extensively with solo and group presentations at most of New Zealand’s top galleries and museums. These include the Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington and Artspace Aotearoa. Her works are also held in the collections of the Wallace Arts Trust, Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and The Dowse Art Museum, and she has been the recipient of the prestigious Frances Hodgkins Fellowship.

  • Works

    • Zina Swanson Forget Me Not, 2019 watercolour and pressed flowers on paper in artists frame 42 x 29.7 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Forget Me Not, 2019
      watercolour and pressed flowers on paper in artists frame
      42 x 29.7 cm
    • Zina Swanson Idris Window with Geranium (Geraniums growing in an open window will prevent flies from entering the room), 2020 acrylic on canvas 35 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Idris Window with Geranium (Geraniums growing in an open window will prevent flies from entering the room), 2020
      acrylic on canvas
      35 x 25 cm
    • Zina Swanson Oak (Any plant thought of too much will not thrive), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on paper, canvas and cotton thread 30 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Oak (Any plant thought of too much will not thrive), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on paper, canvas and cotton thread
      30 x 25 cm
      Enquire
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    • Zina Swanson Imagined wood with leaf flames (Burn wood and the flames will form themselves into the shapes of the leaves of the trees from which the wood came), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on canvas 30 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Imagined wood with leaf flames (Burn wood and the flames will form themselves into the shapes of the leaves of the trees from which the wood came), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on canvas
      30 x 25 cm
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EZina%20Swanson%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EImagined%20wood%20with%20leaf%20flames%20%28Burn%20wood%20and%20the%20flames%20will%20form%20themselves%20into%20the%20shapes%20of%20the%20leaves%20of%20the%20trees%20from%20which%20the%20wood%20came%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ewatercolour%20and%20acrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E30%20x%2025%20cm%3C/div%3E
    • Zina Swanson Stunt (Pointing at a Daffodil will keep it from blooming), 2020 acrylic on canvas 35 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Stunt (Pointing at a Daffodil will keep it from blooming), 2020
      acrylic on canvas
      35 x 25 cm
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EZina%20Swanson%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EStunt%20%28Pointing%20at%20a%20Daffodil%20will%20keep%20it%20from%20blooming%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eacrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E35%20x%2025%20cm%3C/div%3E
    • Zina Swanson Tiger Lily with Nose Border (Smelling tiger lillies causes freckles), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on canvas 30.5 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Tiger Lily with Nose Border (Smelling tiger lillies causes freckles), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on canvas
      30.5 x 25 cm
    • Zina Swanson Sticks I Have Thought of (Five of too many), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on canvas 25.5 x 46 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Sticks I Have Thought of (Five of too many), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on canvas
      25.5 x 46 cm
    • Zina Swanson Untitled (Grass), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on canvas 45 x 35 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Untitled (Grass), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on canvas
      45 x 35 cm
    • Zina Swanson Daisy Bust (white ray and yellow disc), 2020 watercolour and acrylic on canvas 30 x 25 cm
      Zina Swanson
      Daisy Bust (white ray and yellow disc), 2020
      watercolour and acrylic on canvas
      30 x 25 cm
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EZina%20Swanson%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EDaisy%20Bust%20%28white%20ray%20and%20yellow%20disc%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ewatercolour%20and%20acrylic%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E30%20x%2025%20cm%3C/div%3E
    • Zina Swanson Grass and Faked Four Leaf Clovers, 2020 pressed grass and clover leaves, glass and acrylic variable
      Zina Swanson
      Grass and Faked Four Leaf Clovers, 2020
      pressed grass and clover leaves, glass and acrylic
      variable
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EZina%20Swanson%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EGrass%20and%20Faked%20Four%20Leaf%20Clovers%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Epressed%20grass%20and%20clover%20leaves%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3Eglass%20and%20acrylic%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3Evariable%3C/div%3E
    • Zina Swanson Idris Road Plant Inventory (As told by Margaret) , 2020 watercolour on paper two panels: 21 x 14.5 cm each; 34.5 x 42.5 cm framed
      Zina Swanson
      Idris Road Plant Inventory (As told by Margaret) , 2020
      watercolour on paper
      two panels: 21 x 14.5 cm each; 34.5 x 42.5 cm framed
      Enquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EZina%20Swanson%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EIdris%20Road%20Plant%20Inventory%20%28As%20told%20by%20Margaret%29%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2020%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ewatercolour%20on%20paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3Etwo%20panels%3A%2021%20x%2014.5%20cm%20each%3B%2034.5%20x%2042.5%20cm%20framed%20%3C/div%3E
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Contemporary Art

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