Fashioned from Nature: Vee Speers

Vee Speers was born in Newcastle, Australia, in 1966. Her images appear in a time suspended atmosphere that provoke the audience with their concealed stories of mysteriously familiar subjects.

The constant tension between the past, with references to classical art portraiture and royally inspired depictions; and the future, through the longing and hopeful gaze of characters often bearing a set of whimsical elements that indicate the wonders still to happen; takes the viewer on an intimate journey into oneself, exploring dreams, memories, and expectations in the present time.

In the recent series “Phoenix”, Speers portrays powerful women figures that dwell between the melancholy of their untold stories and the inspiring imminent possibilities in the glare of their poses. This transformative gesture is also present in the soulful chronicles of going through childhood into the adult life in the trilogy “The Birthday Party”, “Bulletproof” and “Dystopia”, in which the artist presents the audience with striking questions on their own humanity, challenges and desires, from beautifully constructed allegories and a deeply informed contemporary standpoint.

Commissioned by The V&A Museum for an exhibition on the impact of fashion on the planet, Speers created "Fashioned from Nature", a series in which the works across the line between reality and fantasy, beauty and ugliness or, ultimately, life and death. In the same way, the photographs in “Botanica”, taken in black and white and then subtly colored, examine the notions of still life, merging classical art with traditional scientific methods in an exquisite act of preserving beautiful blooming flowers as by enchantment.