Nature held within the city

Chelsea Physic Garden is transformed into a composition of routes, shapes and colour. The artwork draws upon the garden’s map, simplifying its paths, planted areas and structures while preserving the relationships through which the place can be recognised. 
 

Founded beside the River Thames in 1673, the garden has developed through centuries of cultivation, learning and exchange. This artwork steps away from a literal botanical illustration and instead considers the structure holding that history: the routes people follow, the spaces they enter and the boundaries that contain one of London’s oldest gardens. 
 

By removing labels and unnecessary detail, the painted map becomes open to personal recognition. For someone who knows the garden, its underlying arrangement remains; for others, it becomes a bold geometric artwork whose subject gradually reveals itself.