The natural world, for all its verity and richness, has long been a source of inspiration for visual artists. Art, it can be argued, is shaped by our environment, but in turn, shapes the way we understand our environments. For New York-based artist, Amy Lincoln, the natural world—and more specifically, its flowers and plants—is a metaphorical fertilizer for her paintings.
“I’m usually inspired by plants I see in person, either that I walk past in my daily life, or I see at a garden, or while on a trip,” admitted Lincoln in an interview with Maake Magazine. “I look for interesting patterns or plant structure.”
Her interest in the natural world began when she was young, while growing up next to her mother’s incredible garden. “I think growing up next to a beautiful garden with a mom who was very enthusiastic about plants probably influenced my work,” noted Lincoln.
But though her work is grounded in her natural surrounding, Lincoln’s paintings might be seen as a wild interpretation of her surrounding, using vibrant colors, combined with surreal settings.
“Usually I see a plant or a few plants that I’m excited by, and I think about how I can plan a composition around it/them,” she explained her process. “Usually the color of the plants is a more keyed up version of their natural color. I often come up with sky or background color ideas from something that happened in an earlier painting, some idea that I want to explore further.”
