ANDREA BREWSTER: ENCHANTED GARDEN

May 5th, 2023 – June 10th, 2023

Andrea Brewster has long been fascinated by the intricate beauty of nature. The Dutch flower paintings of the 17th century, with their realistic and detailed depictions of floral bouquets, have also been an inspiration to her. With her new series of work entitled, Enchanted Garden, she creates something that goes beyond mere representation and captures the ephemerality of nature’s wonder.

For this series, Brewster utilized digital tools, like artificial intelligence, to create semi-abstract floral compositions that reflect an impression of nature. This approach uses color and light to highlight the essence of her subject. In this way, Brewster underscores both the fleeting qualities of nature and the ability of floral images to explore themes such as the future of the natural environment in which we live.

Brewster’s work shares with the Dutch painters a method of montaging disparate parts to create the final composition. For instance, the Dutch painters combined flowers from different countries, or flowers that did not bloom at the same time to create their work. By blurring the line between reality and imagination, Brewster’s focus shifts towards suggestion rather than adhering to realism.

Brewster finds that this approach has allowed her to create a fluid space that lies between representational and abstract, where the imagination can roam freely, beyond the limitations of time and space – moored to the past yet provoking questions about the future. A place which captures the essence of nature and presents it in a way that is both familiar and otherworldly – an enchanted garden where magical flowers bloom in delicate hues, with each petal a canvas for wonder and beauty.