Breath of Life, 1995

Plant material: Firms strobus, Rosa gallica officinalis, R. rugosa alba, mugwort, Lonicera japonica “Halliana”, Malva moschata, Thymus serpyllum, silver thyme, Digitalis alba, Pulmonaria “Sissinghurst White”, Ipomoea “Heavenly Blue” and mixed, Polygonum aubertii, Centaurea cyanus, borage, Origanum, rosemary, Lavender “Hidcote”, Dianthus caryophyllus, Hypericum polyphyllum, Viola mixed.

Artist’s Statement
Recently I have used an image of the heart and lungs in my work; the heart being the traditional seat of the emotions and the lungs being that which draws the breath of life.
The rose has a long association with matters of the heart and in the 13th century romance, Roman de la Rose, it is a symbol of perfect love. Possibly that rose was R. gallica, a rose in cultivation since 1100 B.C. The Doctrine of Signatures (late 1500’s), stated that plants gave clues to the parts of the body they healed; the spots of Pulmonaria indicated its ability to heal tubercular lungs. John Gerard (16th century) wrote that borage makes “men and women glad and merry, driving away all sadness and dullness” and gillyflowers (Dianthus caryophyllus) “comfort the heart”. In the late 1700’s, British doctors warned of suffocating effluvia from honeysuckle (Lonicera); across the Atlantic, Lonicera sp. was used by the Chippewa and Iroguois for lung ailments.

Harbourfront Artists’ Gardens, Toronto