When you first see Hemlock Blue in the flesh, the first thing that grabs you is the intense and just truly stunning blue that radiates from the surface of the paper. With an impressive 20 layers of colours, this print - the first this year for Simonsen - is proof that this artist's works seems to just be getting better with every piece.
I asked Henrik about the title 'Hemlock Blue' and he said he'd discovered it while reading a book about the folklore of plants. The book described how relatively little there is written about hemlock, which was strange given how well known it is. One of the most poisonous plants in Europe, it's relatively common although most people apparently wouldn't be able to name it if they saw it.
Henrik said he was attracted to the idea of this deadly living thing growing unnoticed amongst other harmless flora and fauna, and that in the print he wanted to give hemlock this sense of mystery it has gained in folklore.
Clearly a piece of work that’s extremely pleasing to the eye, I love the fact that there’s another level to this print, as there is with the majority of the works by this artist. There’s something endearing about the juxtaposition of a beautiful and decorative image paired with the underlying hint of a hidden, deadly side of nature, and the fact that this is something you may not necessarily be aware of when you view the piece. Simonsen discloses this through colour; the deep blue foliage in the foreground, entwining itself amongst the lighter-toned plants in white, light pinks and warmer tones, represents the dark, deadly intruder. The graduation of colour he's used in the background of the print, which moves from lighter daytime tones on the left to darker hues on the right, is a metaphor perhaps for the transition from life to death and the fragility of life itself.
Again, Simonsen has succeeded in creating something that is bold, yet subtle; decorative but with concept, and this, along with the fact that it’s always so perfectly executed, is the huge draw with his work that makes it so widely collected.
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