Nature-based art installation, the Gratitude Place
We are delighted to present our feature 2019 installation by artist, Clare James for the Warranwood Art Show Spring Exhibition.
We are very excited about the installation because it can show the power of art to be transformative in people's lives.
Clare has created an interactive the Gratitude Place in which visitors are invited to light a candle, contemplate and give thanks for what is good in their lives and place it in the nature-based installation.
Curators Siri Hayes, Carolina Aguilera and Jess Rae
The Gratitude Place
by Clare James
The Gratitude Place has evolved from an installation I did earlier this year called The Grieving Place, an ephemeral art installation where grief, in all its guises and forms, could be honoured.
I wanted to create a place, like a temple, to acknowledge our grief. For relationships broken, beloved pets who have died, parents that had to leave, for bodies that no longer work, regrets that haunt, wilderness lost and the many types of grief we hold.
When combining my work as an artist and freelance florist I attempt to make ‘arrangements’ that have meaning. Flowers and foliage are used in most of our important life events such as weddings, birthdays, funerals and births. Floral creations are ephemeral, which somehow makes them more precious and fleeting. All over the world, for many thousands of years, flowers have been used to represent life, birth, love and death. The piece that I have created for the Warranwood Art Show has elements of these four elements.
The Gratitude Place was created to reflect and honour those things that you are grateful. It gives you the chance to reflect and acknowledge the good things in your life, because sometimes it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything else.
I invite you to enter the space, light a candle and give yourself a moment to ponder what you are thankful for in your life.
Your gratitude might be too big for words or be a tiny moment that happened today. Light your candle for the thing that lights up your heart.
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Clare James is an artist who lives in a little house in the Yarra Valley. See more about Clare James at @clarejamesartist