Catherine Nieto Napierai

In another life vegetal artist Catherine worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

It was her desire to explore non-traditional medicine that took her down a path of botany and learning about the benefits of plants on our health.

While training to become a naturopathic herbalist the concept of vegetal art was revealed to her. To complete the course work Catherine was required to build close to 100 herbariums (collections of preserved plant specimens often referred to as ‘dictionaries’ of the plant kingdom). As she did this a desire grew to play with the botanist approach and make art with the specimens.

Today in her striking vegetal art creations you will find colour and texture-rich celebrations of all manner of flora.

My creative space is…

well, it begins with observing and gathering plants, so I guess this is my backyard, or the bush, forestlands and gardens. Then comes the preparation. For sorting plants I like to use the big wooden table on my terrace. I love to be outside in the sunshine and the plants often contain small insects. They escape as I am working and it always feels to me like they are vacating to let creation take hold. Later down the line, when the plants have been preserved I work in a small room in my home that I think of as a cabinet of curiosity. It looks a bit like a laboratory with shelves and draws of filed specimens and my work desk.

Inspiration for my art comes from…

botany. Although made up of dead and dried plants, herbaria are alive. When we study herbalism, we study the different properties of plants and their many medicinal virtues. Beliefs and legends are also mixed in with this; there is magic in plants. I am inspired by this magic. I’m particularly drawn to tales and poetry that embody the magical aspects of plants and nature.

The last piece I created is…

a creation I have titled The Heart of the Story. This work is based on the sculpture of an old storybook. The book is diverted, becoming the support of new creations based on watercolour and vegetable matter.

My biggest artistic challenge is…

translating my ideas into a piece that works. My recent creation, The Heart Of The Tale is built with a real storybook, so once I began work I only had one chance to get it right. I sculpted the inside pages to make a three-dimensional herbarium. Taming the material to glue it in was tricky…I must play with all of the elements to get it right. The paper is fragile because it is old, the plants are also delicate, and the paint colours I use must be in harmony. I love the challenge though, it is exciting. 

My favourite tool for creating is… 

a pair of florist's scissors. They are plastic and ugly, but terribly efficient and precise. I want to love a more aesthetic pair of scissors, but I have tried pretty pairs that look the part and they don’t do the job half as well.

The reason I became an artist is…

I think it stems from me being hypersensitive. I have always been sensitive to colours, smells, emotions. People describe me as a person who has empathy for others. And I believe that’s why art has always touched me. I've been around a lot of artists in my life and it wasn’t at first clear to me that I too had taken this path. I am still amazed by the revelation actually. But, Mother Nature pushes me to express myself. Plants have their own language and I feel they talk to me.

How I make space in my life for art…

It simply invites itself in. My creating comes in fits and starts. When I feel the pull to work, I'm at full speed and out of time. In order not to disturb my little family, I isolate myself in the evening in my ‘laboratory’ to spend time on my vegetal art projects.

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