Poly blastus; P.acinus, et al.

Donyland Herbarium & Wunderkammer Collection
Limited edition of 20 (each one unique)
Approx. size: 17.5cm x 17.5cm x 3.5cm

Part of the Donyland Herbarium & Wunderkammer Collection, this double-sided work was produced in a limited edition of twenty, with each piece being unique.

On the front, two tiny shelves hold thirteen glass bottles containing seeds gathered from the old farm where I live. Collected from hedgerows, meadows, pathways and forgotten corners, the seeds have been carefully sorted, bottled and preserved as though they belonged within a scientific collection.

But this is not a true herbarium. It is something more playful.

Each bottle bears a label written in what I call layman's Latin - names invented from the seeds' appearance, character, habits, or the places where they were found.

One label reads:

127 - Abundantia aeneus eneus sperma

"Abundance of bronze seeds"

(from the dock plant - or "Doc seeds", as I have always known them).

Turn the piece over and the full catalogue is revealed. Some names sound botanical, some magical, some entirely improbable. Together they form an imaginary taxonomy born from a fascination with language, collecting and the overlooked details of everyday life.

Part herbarium, part wunderkammer, this work celebrates the simple human urge to name things, preserve them, and hold them still for a moment before they disappear back into the landscape.