Exhibition: Rendition of Impermanence

Date: 06/08/2024 – 05/09/2024
Location: TU Delft Hortus Botanicus

Come explore the mesmerizing world of colours through a unique medium – swatches of various lake pigments with artist Yvonne da Silva.

In August Yvonne da Silva will exhibit her research project: Renditions of Impermanence. It is a deeply personal exploration of grief, connection, and the transient nature of life, through the meticulous process of creating lake pigments, she finds solace and a way to honour the fleeting beauty of the natural world. Inspired by the memory of her late mother, who continues to be her greatest source of inspiration, she embarked on this research project to capture the essence and transience of plants and flowers in her local bio-region. By gathering and extracting their pigments, she aims to preserve their fleeting beauty in a tangible form. This process has become a way for her to mourn and accept her mother’s passing, and to explore the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world.

A flower’s life cycle, from a tender bud to a full bloom, and eventually to wilting and dying, is a natural representation of the passage of time. Over time, these pigments will fade or deteriorate, just as flowers eventually wilt and die.

Each petal and leaf in her herbarium represents a moment in time, a moment of brilliance and radiance that will never be repeated. Through this act of preservation, she is reminded of the fleeting nature and the importance of capturing its essence before it fades away. Alongside each delicate specimen, she placed a small colour swatch measuring 3 x 5 cm, a testament to the hues that once graced these living organisms.