Painting with the seasons
Isabella Rose Young is a multidisciplinary artist living slowly and seasonally in Aotearoa New Zealand, where her practise explores a collaborative process with natural phenomena.
Isabella’s art desk contains an array of paintings that depict flowers, toadstools
and colour abstractions that directly reflect what can be found in her garden outside the studio. The colours of the paintings are the same as the vibrant blooms growing outside, and inside is an array of jars of petals, seeds, a flower press, and strings of flora hanging upside down from the ceiling as they dry. Conscious of the environmental condition, Isabella works with foraged pigments, organic, biodegradable materials, and is inspired by the innate strength, tranquillity and regenerative qualities of Mother Earth.
Marigold yellow, pink petunias, and violet pansies are some of the colours that Isabella grows in her abundant garden. Alchemistic processes are utilised to create her paint, which involves foraging, drying, grinding and binding the pigments. She uses a mix of store-bought and handmade card, in which she will often embed seeds so that the paper can be planted and the seeds grow.
Before becoming a mother, Isabella completed her master of fine arts with first class honours. She is recognised for her earlier work of immersive weather paintings, large-scale murals, site-specific installations, and commissioned design work. Isabella’s art has been exhibited internationally and is held by public, private and corporate collections within Aotearoa and abroad. And she has worked with contemporary clients such as Adidas x Parley, Garage Project, MOTAT, and Auckland Libraries.
“My recent work embraces the changing seasons and the sense of harmony that’s found when we align with the rhythms and cycles of nature rather than trying to resist them,” says Isabella. “A lively colour palette has been used, with paints made from foraged plants growing
in winter; delicate violets, candyfloss pansies, midnight petunias and golden marigolds.”
Isabella’s first collection of small original paintings sold out online, and she has just released a second collection of abstracted works which can be viewed on her website and on instagram.
IsabellaRoseCreative.myshopify.com | www.instagram.com/IsabellaRoseCreative