Helena Fierlinger
When working for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (New York) I tried, as a challenge to myself, not for the Garden’s publications, to reveal flowers and plants a bit more abstractly, to go a step sideways from the just descriptive and beautiful. New Zealand gave me the opportunity. The flora here is a great new field of discovery for me. So different, and so exciting! The first time I entered the bush in this country, I had a nagging suspicion that it was all designed by Weta Digital. It looked so unlike anything I had seen before – alive and dangerous.
Two years ago, my son and I made a trip through the West Coast of the South Island, it seemed like I was in a fantasy world when I came upon a large boulder outside of Greymouth. At first glance it appeared as galaxies of colour, stars growing up on each other, cosmic landing sites, and all were living organisms! Then, flowing into my mind were images akin to Persian carpets and exquisite textile designs. I spent as much time as my driving schedule allowed (not enough) and later, on the computer, truly discovered and studied, and played with each image, a sample of which I am presenting here. (Abridged, 2008)
Helena was born and educated in Prague, the Czech Republic. She lived and worked in the USA for 30 years before moving to New Zealand in 2003.
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