NOW Gallery is pleased to present ‘The Iris’ a newly commissioned site -specific installation by Rebecca Louise Law from 2^nd March to 7^th May. Law, is known for her use of organic material, in a sculptural and painterly fashion. 10,000 fresh irises will be suspended with copper wire and will appear to float within the gallery space. Law’s palette of vibrant blue, purple, yellow and white irises will inhabit NOW gallery, bringing nature into the gallery and as with all our installations, change the way we look at the space. Working with simple colour, the irises will cascade to envelope viewers.

The work will take a simple object – in this case an iris – creating visual impact with not only quantity but also arrangement.

The undulating silhouette of the work will be visible on the approach to the gallery. It is not until you enter the space that the work reveals evidence that these fresh flowers are forever changing becomes apparent, as they dry out and their shapes change and contort.

Law’s research for the art work involved walking along the banks of the Peninsula and plucking a marsh reed and taking it to her studio. She was interested in working with this fluffy, whimsical plant but the pollen that came off just one was too great to make reeds into an installation. She discovered that the land that the NOW Gallery sits on was once a wetland of tidal marshes, previously known as ‘Bugsby’s’ and ‘Greenwich’ Marsh. The essence of this land remains today, presented through Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park and Common Reed planting along the Thames River Path.

After looking into this history and researching native marshland plants, she decided she wanted to create an installation that embraces the present and the past. This installation is intended to envelop the viewer in nature, an experience that is rare within the concrete metropolis. The Iris is a marshland plant yet most commonly known as a cultivated springtime flower today. This artwork is a celebration of the Iris and a continuation of her exploration into preservation and the use of flowers as a respected sculptural material. Each flower will dry within the gallery space over time, allowing the viewer to observe the process of preservation and her exploration of ephemerality.

Law is an artist who works internationally, most recently in Denmark at the. She is best known for using natural materials, namely flora. The physicality and sensuality of her site specific work plays with the relationship between humanity and nature. Each sculpture highlights the beauty of natural change. The work evolves as nature takes its course and offers an alternative concept of beauty; embracing preservation and decay.

‘I like to capture and cherish small beautiful natural objects to create an artwork that can be observed without the pressure of time. Preserving, treasuring, celebrating and sharing the beauty of the Earth with the world is what drives me.’ Rebecca Louise Law

“We are very pleased to have Rebecca Louise Law transforming NOW Gallery with her extraordinary tribute to nature and it’s demise. We are fascinate to see how her exhibition will evolve over the three months in the gallery from fresh blooms to dried flowers hanging poetically from the ceiling in an unpredictable and sculptural way. As we have discovered with our Molly Goddard exhibition and The People’s Brick Company, we would like people to think of the gallery as their own, to come and regularly see how the installation is changing, this could be a fleeting look as you rush past or to take five minute to come in, be immersed and contemplate the state of the natural world.” Jemima Burrill NOW Gallery curator