My work concerns the human relationship with nature, which has led to a series exploring people and plants through portraiture. My interest lies in Surrealist and fantasy artwork, involving dreamlike, fairy tale scenes. 

My final images juxtapose the timeless idea of a girl lost in a beautiful ‘Wonderland’ garden, with the present threat of a pandemic. The jarringly contemporary artefacts of a face mask and police-tape are placed strategically within with the timeless setting to create a Barthesian ‘punctum’ for the viewer. 

The blue-tinted foliage produces an otherworldly feel, perhaps suggesting a dream or Dystopian world. The surreal atmosphere is heightened by the feeling of unease, perhaps caused by the vulnerability of the young girl, alone in the garden. Feelings of isolation and abandonment are apparent, as in many of the images the girl appears sad and thoughtful. The face mask and ideas of isolation respond to the pandemic rules on social-distancing. These circumstances offer a particular take on the human relationship with nature: fitting in with the idea of a fantasy dystopian world; however in this case, the nightmare is our reality. The central idea involves the relationship between people and their environment – with the girl wearing the mask while seated in the thriving garden, representing the idea that humanity is a virus in nature that we do not want to spread.