Natural Delight

International artist, Justine Frood talks Rachael Bryant through the inspiration and creation of her breath-taking and thought-provoking new collection.

What does your collection The Silks & Mother Earth mean to you? 

The Silks and Mother Earth is my offering to nature, painted in parallel with the great outdoors and the winds of Tarifa, Spain. I’ve always been inspired and in awe of the four elements of nature - air, water, fire and earth - as without these the world couldn’t function harmoniously. The wind raises the clouds to form the rains, thus nurturing the earth to grow.  

When did the concept for the collection conceived? 

I trace the drive for The Silks and Mother Earth back to when my apartment caught fire in NYC. Loosing most of my possessions and half of a different art collection The Supers. It made me discipline my days and gave me more passion to create. 

Whilst travelling, I wanted to continue my work, but most was too fragile to move. I came up with the idea to work with silks & silk dyes, as I can fold it carefully and place it in my travel bag. 

I first heard of the news of a virus coming from Wuhan when I was in Morocco helping orphans at Les enfants de l’Atlas. After traveling from Morocco to England my friend called me and said if you want to get home, Spain are closing their boarders. This is how The Silks & Mother Earth was conceived, coming alive in lockdown and relocating time in Tarifa Spain. 

Tell us more about the technique you used to create this collection.  

It’s an energetic freestyle of painting with movement, a kind of performance. I explore through my feelings, surrendering to my abstract mind and my emotions, fuelled by passion. 

Some pieces of the collection are large-scale, as much as three meters wide. All on fine Italian silk and hand-painted with silk dyes, the essence of the collection is to paint outside with great outdoors, my offering to Mother Earth. 

If all goes to plan, we are in discussions to continue our creative journey under the Aurora borealis, deep in the Sahara Desert and at peace with the Bodhi tree.