Art Form Of Handmade Gardens

Minneapolis based award-winning artist creates life-like botanical paper artworks that are inspired by historical plant themed prints.

- Emily Dickinson

The lovely flowers embarrass me. They make me regret I am not a bee.

A foray into the world of Minneapolis-based artist, Ann Wood will have you agreeing with Ms Dickinson. Hand-crafted flora and fauna that are wondrous to behold, made from a combination of paper and wire which is then mounted onto a wool or velvet backing - it is a veritable garden of colour and sentience, magically brought to life by Ann Wood, one half of the creative duo that is Woodlucker. Speaking exclusively to Home Review, Ann takes us on a tour of her paper gardens.

“I came to nature as a subject because it is universal,” expounds Ann, who believes her art relates to the transient nature of life in general. “Nature’s beauty is fleeting and ever-changing in its magnificence,” she adds. Her art is not imitative of nature, but in a way, is an interpretation of its splendour.

After having studied commercial photography from a technical college, Anne went on to graduate from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she met her husband, Dean Lucker. The two of them founded ‘Woodlucker’, a collaborative venture, in 1987. Over the last three decades, the two have won several awards and accolades together, and individually. In the past Ann has delved into a variety of mediums, mixed sculptures, wood carving, embroidery and painting. Dean, on the other hand, is inclined towards mechanical storytelling that is reflective of a personalised mythology.