Over the last 8 months I have been undergoing a self directed project looking into a subject that I find very intriguing - Herbology. The use of herbs in medicine and other alternative medicines can be seen as controversial and I have taken the time to research into the project, the history of medicine, looking at statistics, finding artists influence, creating surveys and forming my own visual responses. I have used a multitude of medias to form pieces, experiments and short videos. - Part of my project included a unit for batch production, in which I looked into the symbology within medicine to create art pieces onto tote bags.
My project took a turn into the herbs/plants that are included in medicinal teas and how they are said to help the organs. I created miniture art on teabags and hand pressed text into them as a unique way to get the audience to engage with the piece. A class mate told me that their smell also engaged with the piece because of the scent that was given off from the teabags. I added in the element of aromatherapy and their uses on health of the mind. I chose to focus on three particular branches of tea; for the stomach, heart and lungs - looking into the commercial potential of such. In addition to this I looked into production, branding and promotions.
Along with those I added in informative posters with montages of the organs depicting what they were and why they were beneficial.
