Myth and Magic

Rebecca Keary, 01 December 2001 - [ E-mail a Friend ]

I was very happy recently to discover an exhibition by the Glaswegian artist June Crisfield Chapman of wood engravings illustrating legendary herbal remedies, not necessarily for the sake of the subject matter (though it proved fascinating) but more for the chance to see modern usage of this centuries-old technique. Chapman has for years been fascinated by the myth and folklore surrounding medicinal plants, and after her degree in wood engraving from Glasgow School of Art wrote and illustrated for eleven years for the Countryman Magazine on the subject. She has had in the past a number of exhibitions at British galleries, but the showing of a new series of engravings is now being aptly hosted by the Society of Apothecaries' Chelsea Physic Garden in London (an especially pleasant venue in summer). The attractive images of legendary species of herbs, flowers and trees are accompanied by her interesting commentary on the various beliefs attached to the plants through history, and the stories fascinate as much as the prints themselves.

Some of the legends focus on historical figures, such as the myth attached to the Yellow Flag flower - Clovis, King of the Franks in the sixth century was supposed to have escaped across the Rhine from the Goths after spotting this plant which he knew grew on riverbanks, allowing him to find his way across and thereby saving his life. He took the plant as his emblem, and his descendant Louis IX carried it with him during the Crusades, naming it the 'fleur-de-lys'. A surprising number of plants appear in Greek mythology: Zeus was said to have been fed honey from the leaves of the ash tree as a baby (and as Yggdrasil it was also sacred to the Scandinavian god Woden); Mistletoe, known to us only for its uses at Christmas, has long been considered a magical plant and was supposed to have protected Aeneas as he crossed the Styx and passed through Hades. Some of the legends and traditions are less salubrious, including the story of Traveller's Joy, used in the Middle Ages by beggars to create lucrative sores on their bodies, and later smoked throughout Europe.

But the majority of Chapman's chosen images illustrate plants with links to (mostly English) countryside folklore - the Green Man, Morris Dancers and so on - and there are also images of these. The exhibition shows that many of our modern remedies (e.g. St John's Wort ot Echinacea) have strong if distant connections with ancient pagan beliefs, ensuring that you will never look at a Bach herbal remedy in the same way again. Although Chapman's images are not in themselves hugely exciting (though both skilfully and passionately executed, the style remains mostly the same for all the images), the exhibition with its commentary does make for a fascinating hour wandering round. Perhaps more enticing is the fact that Chapman provides contemporary examples of a relatively old craft (begun in the late eighteenth century) and wants to share her enthusiasm for it (there are side displays with examples of her images at various stages of the process, from preliminary sketches to the finished product, along with the raw materials and tools of wood engraving). A useful exhibition for anybody interested in the resurrection or continuation of old printmaking methods (or for anyone interested in the mythological history of the herbs in their bathroom/kitchen cabinet) - and within the grounds of the peaceful oasis of the Physic Garden.

The exhibition is on until 9th September 2001.