South African artist Daniella Mooney (b.1986) paints plants, which is not that surprising considering she lives and works in Cape Town, giving her access to one of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world, not to mention Kirstenbosch, a national botanical garden with around 22,000 indigenous species. Cape Town, a place of exceptional beauty, teems with botanical energy, offering infinite sources of inspiration for plant art and artists.
Of Mooney’s plant-inspired paintings she says:
“I definitely see that I have developed a style which is suited better toward certain subject matter, and so I actually feel more at ease painting plants and flowers. The reason for this I think is that I feel less constrained when painting the natural world as opposed to objects which I know are supposed to look a certain way. With flower and plants I can tweak the play of light and shadow because my relationship with plants is far more perceptual, even emotional. I find the longer I observe plants the more they dance around with light, and I hope to capture that play and try not to over think what I’m seeing.”
The artist’s connectedness to her subject is clear and her expressive use of colour and form engaging.
