Alessandra Pirovano - Imaginary Herbaria: Matrilineal - The Imaginary Herbarium of a Mother: The Merry Placentae of London

Tuesday 7 October 2014

Matrilineal - The Imaginary Herbarium of a Mother: The Merry Placentae of London

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A RE-INTERPRETATION OF TRADITIONAL ANATOMICAL AND BOTANICAL DRAWINGS TO CELEBRATE THE POETRY OF THE BODY - WITH A GRAFFITI SWING

For my images I use historical anatomical plates. I paint them with ink, pastels and graphite to compose my Imaginary Herbaria.

It is a joy to unearth some forgotten masterpieces of imagination and precision and take them outside the rooms of private collectors and international auction houses.

The Imaginary Herbarium of Dr James Miranda Barry

Margaret Ann Balkley was born in 1795 and in order to be admitted to university and practice medicine, took on the name of James Miranda Barry (at that time women were not permitted to enter university). She was a great pioneering reformer who fought for better sanitation and medical care for soldiers and their families. She was the first British surgeon to perform a successful Caesarium section in 1826. In 1865, after a brilliant career as General Inspector of Army Hospitals, she died in London. The Imaginary Herbarium is a fictional journal that tells the story of Dr Barry playing with her books of anatomy and writing about her elusive and secluded private life.

Matrilineal - The Imaginary Herbarium of a Mother: The Merry Placentae of London

Placentae turned into trees

Bless me with smiles

It is the story of a secret sea garden where children and animals are waiting to be born and talk to each other about expectations, fears, dreams on their future life.

Born a Third Time - The Imaginary Herbarium of Alexina B

Imaginary journal of the 18th century French hermaphrodite Herculine Barbin, aka Alexina B. (Her memoirs published by Michel Foucault) I imagined her writing about the anatomists' inflexible rules on gender.