Over ten years ago, visual artist and photographer Elspeth Diederix (1971) moved into a new studio with a garden, which sparked her fascination with the plant world. She began photographing plants and flowers, and the garden became an important place for creating work, serving as an extension of the studio. This led to several series of floral still lifes, often with a surreal atmosphere. Gardening itself also became an increasingly serious pursuit for Diederix. In 2017, she created her first own garden, The Miracle Garden in Erasmuspark, Amsterdam. In the fall of 2021, at the invitation of Rijksmuseum Twenthe, she designed the Sottobosco Garden, which has been open to the public since June 5, 2022.
Forest Floor
The Sottobosco Garden is located at the rear of the museum, hidden among majestic oak trees and an old Twente farmhouse. Due to its sheltered location, Diederix quickly decided that part of the garden should be a true shade garden. She was inspired by the dark 17th-century forest floor still lifes from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe collection. The painters of these so-called sottobosco scenes focused their attention on life close to the ground, beneath the trees. They painted insects, butterflies, and colorful flowers that stand out against the mostly dark backgrounds. What appeals to Diederix most about these scenes is their wondrous character.
Surreal Atmosphere
Diederix’s own work, such as her photographed floral still lifes, is also characterized by a wondrous atmosphere. By making a scene surreal, you look at it again. Diederix says: “If I simply recorded reality, you would only get an observation—a composition you can find everywhere around you. I have to add something to reality.” By capturing reality just a little differently, she wants to show that great beauty lies hidden in ordinary, everyday things.
Nourishment for Art
The Sottobosco Garden is not just a standalone project but also serves as nourishment for new work by Diederix. In recent years, she has created many photo series featuring flowers as the main subject. These beautiful and often surreal photos were inspired by her own garden (The Studio Garden) and the public garden she created in Amsterdam’s Erasmuspark (The Miracle Garden). The photos she will make in response to the Sottobosco Garden will be characterized by a “dark, mysterious forest floor atmosphere” and will be central to Diederix’s solo exhibition at RMT.
About Elspeth Diederix
According to Elspeth Diederix (1971), the world is infinitely rich. At the core of her artistry is showing this richness—the beauty of nature and of ‘things.’ She does this by searching in her photos for the moment when everyday phenomena lose their familiar appearance and thereby become truly visible. Diederix studied at the Rietveld Academy and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, and recently completed horticultural training.
The Green Lab
Elspeth Diederix is, after Claudy Jongstra and Christiaan Zwanikken, the third artist invited by Rijksmuseum Twenthe as part of The Green Lab. The Green Lab is a program line at RMT with a central role for the museum gardens, which function as green workshops for both artists and the public. Artists can grow flowers and plants in the gardens that serve as material or raw material for their art, and the public can participate in various workshops and activities.
