We recently caught up with Geelong local maker, Megan Zingel… here’s what she shared with us…
Please tell us a little about yourself, your processes and practice…
I’m a Geelong based maker getting back into creating after some time focusing on study. I use pressed flowers to create contemporary pressed flower artworks, often using methods to lift the flowers from the page and create beautiful shadows from their delicate forms.
Please tell us a little about your works, how they evolve, what inspires you to create them
Flowers bring people such joy, though their often short-lived beauty troubles me! I love preserving them through pressing and drying, and seeing their beauty evolve into something different but equally as enthralling. I like to place my flowers, petals and other plant materials that I’ve chosen to work with onto the page and play around, often for hours, with a design until it looks “right”. Sometimes I know what I’m aiming for, other times not. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to let something beautiful emerge from nothing.
Can you please share with us what sort of studio or workspace you currently create in?
I am very lucky to have a shipping container workspace that I’ve fitted out with my work benches, supplies and pieces by my artist friends displayed around the walls. The huge doors let in a fantastic amount of light and it’s nice to have your own space for sitting quietly and working away in.
Do you have a favourite quote? Is there a special piece of advice which you cherish, work by and would like to share?
A quote that has really stuck with me in regards to creativity is ‘Create that which you crave to see’ by Sue Mcleary, who is an amazing American floral artist. I think it’s really important to create things you love, then it becomes an expression of joy, and we probably all need to cultivate and share more joy! I think this is great advice for anyone in any aspect of life really, but especially when it comes to creating.
View more of Megan’s works here.