Could weeds be considered the last, the least, the lost, the lonely, the broken and the rejected? They may well be but Elle Anderson’s Second Glance shows us that which is mostly overlooked, ignored, considered inferior or useless, an unwelcome intrusion and used - is in fact beautiful. And more.
Through the removal of colour, by Elle, any bias has been removed, what then are we left with?
To my eye and to my heart we are left with the souls of a collection of weeds. Stripped back to the essence of their form so that any light that is available may bathed across their skeletons, to introduce us to their quintessential and foundational nature. Stripped they are now undisguised by any falsehood and we see the previously unseen. We see the exquisite.
As is so often the case when the soul is laid bare, the essence of these creatures does not become stronger but much, much more frail. Fragile. Delicate. More open to destruction and harm than when they existed hidden amongst the full coloured community of weeds which was once their rejected home. In this newly exposed state they could be dismissed and destroyed in a second by the slightest breeze.
To this fragile state Elle brings a used component to her work. Clear and crystal clean, these elements could also have been destroyed with relative ease. Yet shine, polish and wash them and don’t they become wonders in the same light as bathes the souls that they now enclose. They have become protectors.
Dwell here a while. Look into these jars and closely observe the printed works, to see the things not seen before.
Elle’s work opened my soul to more than just a botanical display. May her work also do so for you. It will when you give it a Second Glance.
Malcolm Sproull
Little Woods,
Hunua