Vicki White

My recent work looks at the limitations we place on ourselves as living beings and traces this back to a Linnaean system of classification. Linnaeus classified plant, animal, and mineral kingdoms in his book ‘Systema Naturae’ in 1735. He ignited a scientific perspective that gradually omitted the type of storytelling and speculation that added colour to our experience of this extraordinary world.  Hydra, magical storks and sea-monsters, that he classified as Paradoxa, were omitted from his catalogue after the 6th Edition. Thirteen editions later, we are still working within the classifying mindset that created zoos and museums. My work seeks to rediscover wonder and paradox.
In a bizarre twist, Watson and Crick, who started unravelling DNA like old knitting, have been succeeded by scientists remaking life to new patterns of their own invention. They have created real Paradoxa – unclassifiable, new life forms - and my work is racing to keep up.
My interest in the limitations imposed by classification started as a child when I was told that I couldn’t become the things I dreamed of being because I was a girl. I have begun to gather other people’s stories of similar experiences and illustrate them to document their journeys. 
I embrace the dynamism of play in image making and look for humour. I now let the patterns in the wood guide the form of the animals to make the point that what we see across the kingdoms of plant, animal and mineral has more in common than we think.