Welcome to the Botanical Tyranny Blog!

Click on "pages" at right to view drawings from Jane Rainwater's Botanical Tyranny Series.

Upcoming Exhibition: Botanical Tyranny

Jane Rainwater will present a show of her work at The Mark Twain House & Museum, November 4, 2013 to January 17th, 2014.

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Jane Rainwater Artist Statement

Botanical Tyranny (The Evil of Flowers)

People are often attracted to the aesthetics of an image or object that stimulates desire. Decorative objects are collected and exhibited in the home as status symbols of affluence and refinement. My work engages the viewer with its seemingly innocent decorative delight; yet upon closer examination the work challenges and questions our attraction by revealing darker truths.

When botanists sailed to foreign lands during the 19th Century to collect exotic plant species, the landscape was wild and the explorers were fearful of the unknown. As they collected strange specimens, one wonders what might have transpired in the quest to conquer the world’s natural resources.

What cultural artifacts and sacred plants were taken by force from the native people? By the 21st Century, these wild places were destroyed by development. We are still at “war” with the environment trying to protect dwindling resources, while still exploiting, sometimes by force, the world’s resources. Botanical Tyranny references classical botanical illustration and printsas a critique of art history. The strong internal “battle” in the forced integration of flowers and weapons of war references European high culture and its complicity in violent Western domination.

My drawings, diagrams, installations, sculpture and prints explore the paradox of “horrible beauty,” illuminating my concerns regarding wealth, greed, violence and cultural traditions.