Art has turned high tech in a debut exhibition from botanic photographer Helen Kleores.
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The Melbourne artist, whose first solo exhibition opened on Ballarat on Saturday, takes photos of plants and flowers using her iPhone against a white background.
A sheet of paper, a white chair, her fridge and even her car at the beach have served as the backdrop for some stunning depictions of native flowers.
It’s an artform that Ms Kleores stumbled upon during lunchtime walks with workmates.
“I’m not a botanist or anything, I just really love the shape and form of nature,” Ms Kleores said.
“I was going for a stroll with colleagues and I picked up some flowers along the way, took them back to my desk and started photographing them against a white piece of paper.
“It puts in focus the subject matter – the plants and flowers.”
The self-taught botanical photographer’s first exhibition My Plants and Other Flowers is a fresh take on cut flowers and plants. The vibrant botanical details of each plant have become a hallmark of her work.
Ms Kleores said her art stemmed from a love of plants and the joy of putting them in vases at home.
“My parents have a lemon tree in the centre of their backyard and one of my favourite things to do in the summer time is to lie under it and look up at the leaves against the blue sky,” she said.
She particularly likes capturing plants as they dry out.
“They fade and take on a new form which is really great to photograph … quite dramatic and eye catching.”
In addition to her limited edition botanical prints, Ms Kleores has also expanded her work to create cards and hopes for a stationery line in the near future.
“My first love is of Australian native plants, they’re so interesting and of course being Australian it’s nice to give it a profile in a different way.”
The exhibition My Plants and Other Flowers comprises 30 limited edition original works on paper which are on display at Gallery on Sturt until June 30.