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Wildflowers
Collection:UAL Art Collection
Date: 2025
Artist: Tif Harvey
Dimensions:
14.5 x 17.8 x 3.2cm (open)
Medium: Mixed media artist's book
Object number: UAC 1168
DescriptionTif studied BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts. They say, 'Bought for £2 in an Oxfam near my parent’s home, The Observers Book of Wildflowers became a found object I was determined to fill with as many wildflowers as I could. The Observers Books was a series of pocket-sized guides covering a range of diverse topics from common fungi and dogs to British birds and music. This search for wildflowers encouraged me to travel to local parks and natural landscapes in search of varying wildflowers, where I closely examined, identified and pressed each flower onto its associated page. With help from my friends and family I collected 33 flowers now seen within this artist book, each one preserving a memory of where, when and who I was with at the time of its discovery. Through this process I have reimagined the discarded book with new real wildflowers, expanding the book's purpose beyond its original design, to become a documentation of not only flowers but also memories.
To me the medium of artist books is extremely exciting, its huge range of materials and formats can allow for a variety of designs from small reproducible publications to unique one-off artworks. However, I particularly enjoy experimenting with the physical interactions required by the medium, as a viewer is often required to turn the pages to observe the whole artwork. By studying this interaction an artist can incorporate texture into the pages, crafting the viewer’s experience and enhancing the book's concepts by emphasising its themes with textured materials and careful embroidery'.
To me the medium of artist books is extremely exciting, its huge range of materials and formats can allow for a variety of designs from small reproducible publications to unique one-off artworks. However, I particularly enjoy experimenting with the physical interactions required by the medium, as a viewer is often required to turn the pages to observe the whole artwork. By studying this interaction an artist can incorporate texture into the pages, crafting the viewer’s experience and enhancing the book's concepts by emphasising its themes with textured materials and careful embroidery'.