Jacaranda Shade (Cemetery Floor)
Palm Shadow (1981) and Jacaranda Shade (Cemetery Floor) (1981)
Both artworks are explorations of flora and shade in Mexico. Shadow spills across crucifixes that lie across the cemetery floor in Jacaranda Shade (Cemetery Floor) (1981). The plant of the title, Jacaranda, is a sub-tropical tree native to South America, noted for its purple-blue flowers, tall height, and fern-like leaves. Facets of blue, purple, and orange-brown suggest fallen leaves and branches from the jacaranda, that we assume towers above the cemetery floor. Dropped from the jacaranda, they now lie in a state of decay, mirroring the fallen crucifixes as a place of rest.
Created in the same year, Palm Shadow (1981) also explores the effect of flora on light, but this time using a restricted colour palette to capture form. Saturated dark outlines are interspersed with more sketchy ones to suggest the different textures of the flora. Both artworks speak to the artist’s eleven years in Mexico following art school, which saw her pursue her fascination with tropical vegetation based on intense observation and study.
