Jennifer Trouton: Tackling the theme of abortion through flowers in her art
Jennifer Trouton is part of the current exhibition at the Lavit gallery in Cork. Picture: Russell Pritchard/Presseye
Jennifer Trouton’s contribution to the New Irish Art exhibition currently showing at the Lavit Gallery in Cork is a single round painting in oils. Like all her work, it is meticulously crafted, a botanical study whose subversive intent is only really suggested by its title, Bring Down the Flowers III. The phrase is a Victorian euphemism for inducing a miscarriage. “An abortion, in other words,” says Trouton.
The painting, like its companions, Bring Down the Flowers I and II, is inspired by the work of the 18th century Dutch artist Rachel Ruysch. “She was the most successful botanical painter of her time. She outsold her male counterparts, became a court painter to Marie Antoinette, and lived well into her 80s, so she had a very prolific career. She was also a mother of ten. But her male counterparts are the ones whose history is recorded and remembered, and they’ve had all the shows. It’s only now that Ruysch is coming back to prominence. I really admire her.”
