Herbaria, 2019 acrylic on canvas, 60″ x 60″

Vancouver multi-disciplinary artist Fiona Ackerman adds a modern element as she explores her interest in botanical painting, a pursuit that had its heyday during the 18th Century Age of Imperialism.

Painting for Dorothea and Johanna, 2019, 56″ x 82″

The paintings are inspired by notable women of the time, such as Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator. Ackerman takes art history and science “into the realm of abstraction” through the large oil and acrylic paintings.

On show through July 13 at Gallery Jones in Vancouver, Fiona Ackerman also wrote the song and lyrics in this video, created to accompany the Herbaria exhibition. (Herbarium is an 18th Century word, from Latin, denoting a systematically arranged collection of dried plants; also a box, cabinet, room or building housing such a collection. Herberia is the plural.)

Under Garden (2019), acrylic on canvas, 64 x 40 inches.

Fiona Ackerman has exhibited across Canada and in Europe (London, Berlin, Nuremberg, Munster, Düsseldorf). She was longlisted for the Sobey Prize in 2015 and received an honourable mention for the Kingston Prize for Canadian Portraiture. Recent projects include a wrap mural for a building in Vancouver, and a commissioned 10-minute video projection for the Burrard Arts Foundation Facade Festival in 2017.

Cosmos (2019), acrylic on canvas, 59 x 39 inches.

Fiona Ackerman’s website, here.

On exhibition at Gallery Jones, through July 13th, 2019