New botanical artworks by Sandra Kantanen unveiled at London Art Fair 2023

New botanical artworks will be on display at this year's London Art Fair, which takes place this month.

Finnish-born artist Sandra Kantanen will be unveiled by Purdy Hicks Gallery at LAF for the first time. Herbarium presents familiar and exotic plants with microscopic precision, revealing the intricacy and delicacy of nature’s structures.

The plants are photographed with a scanner and the resulting images are processed to a size that makes the smallest details stand out. The almost unnatural precision of the images manages to uncover something about the structure of nature.

Kantanen explains: 'I built a miniature studio on top of a large flatbed scanner, where I photographed various plants. I collected the plants from nature, gardens and flower shops.

'I have been developing this method of photography using a scanner since 2001 and have used it in previous works. My floral series Distortions was made with the same method, but the plants were moved during exposure which creates an impression of a long exposure time and breaks down the image, creating an effect similar to paint dripping. I kept the subjects simple and still for the entire exposure, so that the plant can be examined as is. The precise details of the plants emerged as the prominent theme.

Kantanen mostly works with natural themes and landscapes and combines photography with painting to approach the tradition of landscape painting with new methods. She makes use of digital technology and a variety of techniques, pushing the boundaries of photography within her genre.

All works are pigment prints – in two sizes 132 x 75 cm, Edition of 3 54.5 x 31.8 cm, Edition of 10.

The London Art Fair take place 18 – 22 January 2023 at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH. Full ticket types and prices at: www.londonartfair.co.uk/tickets

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© Sandra Kantanen

© Sandra Kantanen

© Sandra Kantanen

© Sandra Kantanen