Aliens
For Collect Art Fair 2022, Townsend collaborated with Sally Whyman, curator of vascular plants at the Welsh National Herbarium, National Museum Cardiff. In the Aliens series, they brought to life the historic scientific work and personal stories of botanists whose pressed collections of non-native plants, introduced by humans, are held in the Welsh National Herbarium.
Although the museum’s public galleries had reopened, the research collections remained closed due to ongoing COVID restrictions. The collaboration was conducted remotely via email, and the specimens were digitally scanned, giving Townsend access to the collections from a distance.
Using beeswax harvested from hives on the museum roof, Townsend created three-dimensional, lifelike representations of the flat pressed specimens, employing historical wax botanical sculpting techniques. Each sculpture was mounted on custom stainless steel plates with epoxy-printed collector data labels, echoing the original herbarium sheets while juxtaposing historic and contemporary materials.
The Aliens series explores how historic collections can be brought to life for modern audiences through digital access, research, material experimentation, storytelling, and the collaboration of science and art.
Aliens 1956
Based on the digitally scanned image of a passion flower (Passiflora caerulea), specimen from the Welsh National Herbarium, collected in the glasshouse at Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales by Departmental Attendant, J. W. Davies in 1956. P. caerulea is a perennial climber native to South America which has been deliberately introduced to other parts of the world as an attractive cultivated garden plant with its uniquely constructed flowers. This climber with tendrils is often planted by walls and fences where it persists even when neglected.
Materials – Beeswax collected from the beehives on the roof of National Museum Cardiff, artists’ beeswax, paraffin wax, tinned copper wire, tissue paper, cotton thread, artists’ pigments, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish. Mounted on a stainless steel plate with stainless steel strips.
Dimensions – 26 x 41.5cm
Date – 2021
Aliens 1992
Based on the digitally scanned image of a common rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) specimen from the Welsh National Herbarium, collected in Margam Country Park by Botanical Photographer, Peter Russell and Senior Curatorial Assistant, Anthony D. Tipper in 1992. R. ponticum is native to countries in the western and eastern Mediterranean such as Spain, Portugal and Turkey and also occurs eastwards through Asia into China. It was first introduced to Britain as an ornamental shrub in 1763 and became especially popular on country estates in Victorian times. R. ponticum produces suckers from its root and an abundance of seeds, enabling it to out compete native plants. It is now listed as an invasive species under schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Materials – Beeswax collected from the beehives on the roof of National Museum Cardiff, artists’ beeswax, paraffin wax, tinned copper wire, tissue paper, cotton thread, artists’ pigments, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish. Mounted on a stainless steel plate with stainless steel strips.
Dimensions – 26 x 41.5cm
Date – 2021
Aliens 1957
Based on the digitally scanned image of an Argentine vervain (Verbena bonariensis) specimen from the Welsh National Herbarium, collected in Ely, Cardiff by plant enthusiast, Royston Leslie Smith in 1957. Smith was interested in recording plants that had hitchhiked their way into Wales via ships and many of the specimens in his collection were found near to Cardiff, Newport and Barry docks, growing as a result of dumped ballast or as contaminants of raw wool imports. Native to South America, V. bonariensis is a popular garden plant growing to 1.5 metres tall with purple flowers which butterflies love.
Materials – Beeswax collected from the beehives on the roof of National Museum Cardiff, artists’ beeswax, paraffin wax, tinned copper wire, tissue paper, cotton thread, artists’ pigments, acrylic paint, acrylic varnish. Mounted on a stainless steel plate with stainless steel strips.
Dimensions – 26 x 41.5cm
Date – 2021