A Margate gallery gets a mossy makeover at the hands of artist Lizzy Rose this week.
A layer of living moss forms an indoor landscape in a new audio-visual installation titled Arrangement at Crate, just off the High Street in Bilton’s Yard. Incorporating video, sound, hand-made objects and manipulated plant-life, the work explores landscape, nostalgia and the pursuit of knowledge between cultures.
Lizzy Rose visited Japan in 2016 to research a form of floristry called ikebana which has been practiced for more than 600 years. Rose’s interest lies in the hidden culture surrounding this art form, which she examines by drawing parallels between The Art of Flower Arranging, a book produced in the 1950s, and the classes held today in Tokyo by the Ohara School of Ikebana for International students.
The Art of Flower Arranging by Ishimoto is a instructional guide on how to use the simplified principles of Ikebana to decorate your home. Ishimoto encourages the user to observe nature and landscape. Pure Ikebana is more precise, combining geometry and natural forms; the wildness of nature meeting rational aesthetics. By replicating landscape it aims to create a transformative space that evokes the sublime, which is described as a kind of spirituality, or sacred place.
Lizzy Rose lives and works in Margate. Her work explores community, British identity and hidden culture. She has a severe form of Crohns disease and is a disabled artist. Lizzy Rose was part of artist-led space, LIMBO arts in Margate from 2012-15 and now is part of the programming team at Crate.
The exhibition was funded by the Arts Council, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Crate and is part of Margate Festival.
Arrangement runs from September 14-30 and Crate is open Thursday to Sunday noon-4pm or by appointment. As part of this exhibition, there will be a chance to hear Rose explain her work in a Crate Conversations session on Wednesday, September 27 at 7pm.
To see more of Rose’s work, find her on Instagram at @rozequartz
Report Dan Thompson