About Botanicus collection
The Botanicus collection created by Marianne Hendriks is an nonlinear trail of thoughts on how nature is perceived by the artist. The Botanicus collection is a series of portraitures of nature, with human-like characters. The artist references traditional historic icon paintings from the Egyptian and mediaeval eras, representing worshipping images and putting the story of nature at the center instead.
The artworks are representing thoughts and reactions to how nature can be represented, you can see that there are multiple versions of representations created within a time section and or referring and rethinking previous artworks by the artist. With the mind set of exploring effects that intention of creation can create a different outcome each time.
The artist also explores geometrical and architectural structures and formations of form with structures that are strongly influenced by her degree in architecture and design.
The representation switches between attributes and contradictions, from inverted to exerted, light versus dark, smooth versus structured, perfection versus imperfection, the what is shown and what is not shown, complexity versus simplicity. The artist also has applied optical effects, these are means of looking into a scene of greenery and then deciding to read it differently and to restructure its appearance. The artist implies that thought determines how nature and our surroundings are perceived.
The Botanicus collection is painted in oil with the direct brushstroke technique in the alla prima and impasto technique with a chromatic colour palette, allowing the artist's hand to really be apparent and to exemplify movement and structures.