Visual Recording

From the Spitalfields market I purchased a box of three preserved Butterflies.

One is a ‘Peacock’ Butterfly, the second a ‘Clouded Yellow’ Butterfly, and the third a ‘Silver-Washed Fritillary’ Butterfly. They are all different in size, colour and pattern, but have the same soft and painterly look to them, almost as if they are made up of dust. Their wings are like tiny delicate leaves and have very fine hairs leading to the bodies of the insect. The ‘Peacock’ Butterfly is made up of red brick, hazelnut and coffee browns, with metallic pearl, gold and lavender circles, whilst the ‘Clouded Yellow’ Butterfly is made up of a sunshine yellow, a golden brown and a pale lime green, with a hint of delicate peach around the edges of the wings and antennae. The ‘Silver-Washed Fritillary’ Butterfly is not quite as it sounds, it is largely a rusty orange with a woody brown for decoration and pattern. The Butterflies make me feel calm, they bring out a peaceful quality in me and remind me of happiness and tranquility.

I would imagine if the butterflies were placed in a museum or a gallery space people would be fascinated by them, by the detail of their small form. In this context you are forced to analyse what you see and I think they would look very special and precious.

At the same time, if the Butterflies were put into a shop or boutique, people could again admire them, but as a piece you could purchase they may become lost in a collection of many other obtainable objects. I would hope they would be made a feature in this context, something to draw attention and inspire people, but not to buy from the shelf.

I bought an Ornamental Ceramic Bird from as shop near Brick Lane, called Queens. It is an elegant piece, a warm off white in colour and glazed to finish. it has a hollow body which has a ‘branch-like’ pattern cut out from it, so light passes through. It makes me think of something vulnerable, something that needs to be cared for, and something sweet and friendly. Together with the colour, size and subject of the bird, it conjures up a feeling of innocence.

If I had seen this little bird on a market stall, I would probably have thought of it as nothing more than bric-a-brac, it may not have been as well looked after and depending on what it was placed with could go unnoticed. Placing this object into a gallery or museum would attract craft makers admiration as it would have been made by an artist. More thought would go into the making process and technique used to form the piece, as a pose to only visually appreciating the object.

I was really drawn to The Lampshade in the V&A Museum Of Childhood during my visit, it was big, bright and full of fun. The ‘Kitsch-ness’ of it all was most amusing - Bright red next to fuchsia pink, next to lime green with very bold black outline and white panels were just brilliant. There was a playful-ness to it, roughly cut out by school children as their interpretation of decoration.

Being in a gallery did make me appreciate it more, however if it had been placed in a shop or boutique, I do think I would still want to buy it, it is still unique and still lots of fun. Being placed on a market stall, it may lose some of its appeal but I do think people with a creative eye would still be interested. The great thing about it is it could be in anyones living room, and could look great anywhere.