Nurturing Artists

“Nurturing Artists” was conceived as a collaborative series. Christopher Osborne created a series of images with fellow artists by capturing shadows of their body language, tools and work in a photogram.

This work pays homage to Anna Atkins work capturing plants and flowers in her parent’s garden in 1842. Just as a gardener tends to garden of flowers and beautiful plants, arts foundations nurture and oversee the growth of artists.

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Atkins used Sir John Herschel’s cyanotype process to make photogram or shadow pictures of flowers, fern leaves and plant leaves from her garden. These can still be seen today in the Royal Horticultural Society collection at Kew Gardens in London and in the New York Public Library collection.

Each portrait is the result of a collaboration with the “sitter”. The artist’s pose, and the belongings around them tell their story. The pose represents their character. Together with the tools of their trade each image describes how how the sitter is seen by their colleagues, and how they see themselves.

The size of each image is in part determined by the subject. However, the large size of each of these prints also references the idea that by collaborating we are all bigger together than we would be on our own.

“Victor Sitali”

Painter Victor Sitali is both speech and hearing impaired.

In his self-portrait, Victor wanted to strongly portray that he is a painter. After all, painting plays an important part in his communication and indeed place in the world.

Victor Sitali’s image sees him with brush in hand ready to make a mark on the imaginary canvas. He is surrounded by the tools of his trade.