Underground Communication (100 x 100cm)
**Words by Amber L-J**
The garden roses are more sophisticated, and social, than meets the eye.
The sun breaks through the misty morning sky, awakening the roses. As perfect chaos ensues, they strive for sunlight, their twisting stems climbing higher and higher. Once on equal footing, the bursting rose buds turn to face each other. They are planted lovingly by human hands, in hopes of the garden becoming enriched with pink and red hues, infused with their sweet perfume. To the human ear, there is only silent compliance between them, their roots entwined in the same dirt.
The soil beds may be quiet on the surface, but I hear whispers of a community beneath the Earth. A summer romance ensues, with the rightful privacy of underground communication.
Each feathered, dark root is a lifeline and the will to survive, as a neighbourhood of roses share information; Each message is sent with care, with warnings of environmental change, appeals for lost family members, and the distribution of precious nutrients before their timely deaths. As one dies, another rose takes their place, as a near-identical reminder of what once was.
Hours move slowly in their world, so the human eye merely witnesses small actions suspended in time. It fails to see the valuable words exchanged and the important relationships formed for survival.
The community of roses give endless performances of joy and colour to their viewers, blooming bright.
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‘Underground Communication’ is a metre square painting which was part of a series, painted a year before Lisa Timmerman’s canal landscapes.
The 2017 documentary with the Oscar-winning actress, ‘Judi Dench: My Passion for Trees’, was a crucial source of inspiration:
“I had seen a television program about Dame Judi Dench & her passion for walking through forests, specifically how the trees communicate as the fungi is all connected & communicates underground! It was absolutely fascinating, so the next day I painted my roses, communicating underground from an insect’s perspective”.
From the concept of an underground communication, Lisa went on to paint a series of similar subject matter that would capture this intriguing concept with roses. Our lowered perspective of the entangled roots, placed in the soil, only fuels our childlike wonder and imagination:
“I just love the idea, it felt a bit Disney, like the Earth was quietly controlled by a good force & was essentially a good safe place, the way I remember thinking as a child & I was amazed to find out it was true.”
Underground Communication: Details and Interior Ideas
The Original Painting, Underground Communication, is available to purchase from Lisa Timmerman’s website.
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