A Study of Chinese Medicine • No.063 Painting

My father is retired from practicing traditional Chinese Medicine, this started in the village where I was born and continued when he owned a small pharmacy in the nearby town Yangjang. I spent a substantial amount of time here as a child; the colours, smell and texture of all the medicines are clearly printed on my mind. Additionally, I have a long personal journey with traditional medicine through being treated for my skin condition, and have vivid memories of my father testing out potions and traditional therapies attempting to ease my symptoms. In China we use traditional medicine from many sources including plants, animals and minerals and this is integrated into our daily life for food, treatment and for pleasure. For local people this is part of the landscape, you live in it, it is just a normal part of your life. The work draws on historical botanical notation and expresses my personal relationship to the source medicine examining each element in detail and communicating my connection.