The Unicorn and its Garden | 2016 | ink on paper | 59.4 x 84.1 cm | original in private collection
This piece is a private commission made in 2016 to celebrate the 16 years of the company I was working with. I spend nearly one year working on this incredibly labour intensive piece. This drawing symbolises the company’s achievements, and I’ve chosen 16 different English native flowers to represent each year of the company’s activities. The chosen flowers are:
Wild Daffodil, English Rose, Dog rose, Fox Glove, Thrift, Pasque Flower, Wood Anemone, Cuckoo Flower, Cowslip Flower, Spring Gentian, Autumn Crocus, Primrose Flower, Clustered Bell Flower, Grass of Parnassus, Wood Crane’s Bill Flower and Poppy.
We also have 16 hidden images representing the company’s ethos, such as development, growth, and triumph. The hidden images are a sword, a hare, an acorn, a crown, a key, a squirrel, a fox, a Tudor flower, a salmon, red bricks, a dove, a coat of arms, a monarch butterfly, a greyhound, a sceptre and a hedgehog.
My idea was to make a modernised interpretation of the medieval tapestry The Unicorn in Captivity (1495-1505). In the briefing for this piece, it was demonstrated to my clients a desire for historical and contextual elements in the artwork, therefore, I chose this ethereal tapestry from the Renaissance period.
The unicorn stands proudly in the middle of the image, and the fences and shackles seen in the original don’t appear here. I wanted to allude to the idea of freedom and wildness that relates to the mysterious creature that the unicorn is.
The drawing has around 800 flowers, animals, and objects that carry a lot of symbolism within.
Finally, this piece symbolises abundance and growth. The work is clear from a distance as the white unicorn comes alive in the busy surroundings. From closer inspection, the drawing is a delight to the viewer, who I would hope to become overwhelmed by the details and intense dedication.
