Honey Flow Quadriptych

Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Florilegium: Honey Flow II (early summer). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Florilegium: Honey Flow III (summer). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Florilegium: Honey Flow IV (autumn/ winter). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Installation shot of Florilegium: Honey Flow Quadriptych (2014). By Amy Shelton.

Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Snake's Head Fritillary (Fritillaria Meleagris). Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Goat Willow (Salix caprea). Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow II (early summer). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

Cherry blossom (Prunus). Detail from Florilegium: Honey Flow I (spring). 2014. By Amy Shelton.

A series of four lightboxes

I Spring, II Late Spring/Early Summer, III High Summer, IV Autumn/Winter

This series of four artworks illuminates the melliferous (honey yielding) floral sources vital for UK honeybees to sustain their colonies.

The artwork developed out of an initial research project funded by the Wellcome Trust to bring new scientific research on plant-pollinator relationships into the public domain.

The pressed samples, collected and preserved at the peak of their bloom, are arranged chronologically in order of their flowering times, tracing the subtle choreography of plant-pollinator relationships across an entire bee year.

Starting with the first flowers of Spring, the series builds to the flourishing crescendo of the Summer months, before ebbing towards the quieter coda of Autumn and Winter, capturing the seasonal cadence of the plant world in meticulous detail. Some plants appear just once as fleeting soloists in this complex symphony (Orchard Blossom, False Acacia and Lime Tree flowers). Others are recurring bass notes, flowering across the seasons (Dandelions, Brambles, Borage, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, Wild Marjoram and Lavender).

Florilegium: Honey Flow Quadriptych was purchased by Wellcome Collection in 2014 where it is now on permanent display.

Florilegium: Honey Flow Quadriptych by Amy Shelton. On display at Wellcome Collection.

Florilegium: Honey Flow Quadriptych has been exhibited in galleries and public spaces across the UK and abroad including:

Plan Bee, Eden Project, Cornwall (2019)
The Hive, Tom Dixon’s Shed residency, Now Gallery, London (2017)

Bees (and the Odd Wasp) in my Bonnet, Jackson Foundation Gallery, St Just, Cornwall (2017)
Apiculture: Bees and The Art of Pollination II, Spacex, Exeter (2016)
DAAD Galerie Zimmerstraße, Berlin (2015)
Bee Works, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (2015)
Confluence, Green Hill Arts, Moretonhampstead (2015)
Literaturbüro Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Detmold (2014)
Apiculture: Bees and The Art of Pollination, Peninsula Arts (2014)
The Core, Eden Project, Cornwall (2014)
National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre, London (2013)

The artwork has been the focus of several academic symposia and a wide range of public events opening up learning about bees and their vital role in sustaining human life.

Watch a short film about the Florilegium series at Eden Project.

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