STORY BEHIND THE ART OF KAREN KLUGLEIN

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

Devil’s Trumpet

Datura metel

When the Weird, Wild and Wonderful exhibition was announced, I ordered a particular plant that I hoped to grow and eventually paint for the show. I am not much of a gardener and was out of luck when the plant did not produce even a single flower! I ruminated about what else to paint and just about gave up........until I was given a tour of a very special garden in East Hampton. Whenever a gardener is especially excited to show me something in their garden, I pay particular attention. That is what happened when I was introduced to the unusual Datura flowers. The flower is both poisonous (hallucinogenic) and medicinal. The dark, speckled, shiny stems and bumpy leaves add interest to the voluminous petals. It is all at once darkly sinister and obscenely huge as well as beautiful. It struck me as a perfect plant to enter into this Wild, Weird and Wonderful show. 

Next Story

Back to List

Read more about this artist's work: 16th Annual International