Ultraviolet Wildflowers
Western Australia Series 1Kings Park & Botanic Garden; Through the Eyes of Insects
Ultraviolet Wildflowers flips the perspective; instead of putting insects under the lens, it creates a photographic representation of how insects see the native, threatened wildflowers of Western Australia as their key to survival.
This first series initially took the form of an “exhibition-event” for the 2023 Everlasting Kings Park Festival. This exhibition-event took place inside the Kings Park Conservation Garden (a special area of the park that holds many threatened species of flora, as the name suggests). It involved a total of seven “Windows” (QR codes) opening into the insect’s World, hidden around the Conservation Garden next to specific wildflowers. When scanned, the Windows revealed the photo of the respective wildflower biofluorescing under ultraviolet light, and also a clue to find the next Window… Once all Windows were found, the participant got to choose which wildflower was their favourite as well as take home phone wallpapers of each.
The exhibition-event took place during the final week of the festival, participants could go through it at their own pace fully independently, however I offered a “walk n’ talk” through the event for those who wanted to hear more about the wildflowers, biofluorescence, and how insects experience an alien World.
This series holds all of the wildflowers covered in that initial exhibition-event. It provides a spectrum of biofluorescent excitations that I haven’t seen before, colours rare to see in flora under UV light, and an insight into the increasingly astonishing lives of Australian flora and fauna.
Darwinia sp. Gibson | Priority 1
(Granite, Conservation Garden)
Pine Featherflower, Verticordia staminosa var. erecta | Critically Endangered
(Critically Endangered, Conservation Garden)
Salt Myoporum, Myoporum turbinatum | Priority 4
(Seasonal Wetlands, Conservation Garden)
Wattle, Acacia sp. | Priority 4
(Sandplains, Conservation Garden)
Bush Flame Pea, Chorizema varium | Endangered
(Sandplains, Conservation Garden)
Large-Flowered Scaevola, Scaevola macrophylla | Critically Endangered
(Critically Endangered, Conservation Garden)
Bracted Grevillea, Grevillea bracteosa | Endangered
(Sandplains, Conservation Garden)
Series 2 is in development…
If you’re interested in seeing the wildflower images that may become part of the next series, sign up to You, UV & Me – the weekly newsletter that keeps you up to date with what I’m doing within the Through the Eyes of Insects project and beyond. Unlock your access to the Hidden Portfolio for the next series now.