Psychedelic sugar, sweets and modelling clay are used to create dreamy landscapes, at an exhibition full of eye candy at Kew Gardens this summer.
Pip & Pop: When Flowers Dream is the London debut for Australian artist Tanya Schultz — who works under the name Pip & Pop. She's created a pastel-hued 'food fantasia' inspired by mythology and folklore, and plays with the viewer's sense of perspective to draw them into a candy land.
If the preview photos are anything to go by, the exhibition will be all over Instagram this summer.
Located at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, within Kew Gardens, When Flowers Dream includes a brand-new bespoke installation created especially for Kew, in collaboration with Kew's own scientists. It takes the form of an imaginary landscape brimming with foods which are currently identified as neglected and underutilised. Botanical paintings from Kew’s archive including colourful 19th century works will sit alongside it.
When Flowers Dream is part of Kew's Food Forever programme, a series of events looking at how we can change what we eat to protect the planet and ensure resources are still available for future generations. Kew's recent State of the World's Plants and Fungi report showed that 2 in 5 plants worldwide are estimated to be threatened with extinction, and at present we are overly dependent on only a few species for food.
Pip & Pop: When Flowers Dream is at Kew Gardens, 21 May 2022-5 March 2023. It's included in general Kew Gardens admission, for which booking is recommended.
