“California Wild Flowers”, Claudy Jongstra's artwork for the lobby of the Figueroa Eighth building in Downtown Los Angeles, is based on the strength and resilience of Californian wildflowers. Her composition references Theodore Payne's ‘Wild Garden’ in Exposition Park in 1915. The stewardship of the exclusively native California plants - as many as 220 species - represented in this unique California garden is extended by the use of drought-tolerant plants as the basis for the natural colour palette of Jongstra's artwork, such as California walnut, madder root, juniper berries, yarrow, desert sage, Japanese indigo, and rhubarb leaves, with their natural alum, as a suitable plant for the first step in the natural colouring process.
At Studio Claudy Jongstra, all materials, processes, and artworks are part of an economy of caring for people and planet. Whether it is the wool of native Drenthe Heath Sheep, whose grazing balances the biotopes in their native moorland habitat, or the colours distilled from natural dye plants grown both on the artists own and other biodynamic farms. All this results in a vibrant floral piece of art painted with fibers.
Photo’s: Figueroa Eight
In collaboration with: Johnsonfain RottetStudios and LendrumFineArt - Tiffiny Lendrum.
