This banner of the graceful boughs of a Himalayan Birch tree was painted in Kew Gardens. One gold-coloured leaf shows the start of Autumn. The pigment mix is shown in the brushwork. Handmade mitsumata paper from Japan with fibrous edges is used.
©Yeshen Venema
©Yeshen Venema
©Yeshen Venema
©Yeshen Venema
©Yeshen Venema
Anne McKenzie
- Calligrapher
- London, United Kingdom
- Rising Star
Contact
English
Hours:
By appointment only
By appointment only
Phone:
+44 7799665923
+44 7799665923
©Yeshen Venema
A delicate homage to plants
- • Anne is a London-based botanic calligrapher
- • Her banners merge traditional Japanese calligraphy and contemporary techniques
- • The themes in her work are conscious spontaneity, environmental awareness and plant preservation
Walking into an exhibition of Anne McKenzie’s works feels like stepping into a beautiful garden. Her objects are peaceful and reflective, they play with light and sway gently with a breeze. Anne creates unique banners that bring together the observational skills of botanical art and the emotional responsiveness of centuries-old Japanese calligraphy. As a canvas, she uses paper made from the unbleached fibres of mitsumata and kozo plants, in true Japanese tradition. Anne studied fine arts at Rhodes University in South Africa, and pursued a postgraduate art psychotherapy degree at the University of London. She started her professional activity in 2015 and is based in London. Her banners can be hung both as standalone pieces and as installations.
Read the full interviewWorks
Photo: ©Yeshen Venema
Himalayan Birch 4 Pigment
Photo: ©Yeshen Venema
Magnolia ‘Alba’
This is a banner with a minimal composition of white flowers of Magnolia “Alba”. The petals are brushed with paint made from lime mixed with graphene and the branches are pigment. The paper is handmade Japanese mitsumata paper with the marks of the paper makers’ frame visible.
Photo: ©Yeshen Venema
Atlas Cedar
This banner of a young Atlas Cedar was brushed in Kew Gardens in pigment on handmade mitsumata paper.
Photo: ©Yeshen Venema
Poppies
Here is a delicately brushed banner of bright red poppy flowers reaching up, fine stems and unfurling buds with spiralling green leaves. The pigment is painted on handmade hosokawa heritage paper from Japan.
Photo: ©Yeshen Venema
Lapis Anemones 2022
This is a banner of anemone flowers with light spontaneous brushstrokes. The pigment is used on handmade historic mitsumata paper from the 1950s by Kashikiseishi Paper, Kochi, Japan. Lapis lazuli has been used to represent the sky with the precious pigment highlighting the delicate white flowers and stems.
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