GL Barrett

G L Barrett is an emerging artist from England who now lives in Prince Edward County. They create artworks which aim to highlight aspects of the natural world that ordinarily go unnoticed. Through their art, they aim to inspire others to connect with the natural world.  In the ‘Propagate’ (2024) collection they humanised plant propagation through typography and poetry, and followed this with the ongoing ‘Unseen Neighbours’ photographic series of unusual entomological portraits. G L Barrett’s work has been exhibited in Toronto (Propeller and Leslie Grove Galleries), Hamilton (Cotton Factory), and Prince Edward County (Melt Gallery).

Unseen Neighbours Series:

Nature is often experienced as a view from above. When a butterfly passes by, we see its wings and nothing more. When a grasshopper leaps out of our path, only a green blur is noticed. In a moment, both are forgotten as we hurry on with our day. The ‘Unseen Neighbours’ series explores the view from below and introduces the characters I've met as they go about their daily lives in our shared world. As a gardener, insects have a special significance for me as they contribute a lot to the beauty and biodiversity of my garden. Through my photographs, I share their fascinating habits, dramas and personalities: from the steely glare of a grasshopper to the curiosity of a jumping spider. Often, I use monochrome editing as a way of removing the pre-conceptions of colour and drawing out the personalities of the subjects, resulting in an image that is reminiscent of vintage family portraiture. On occasion, monochromatic drama is replaced with bold bursts of colour that reflect the vibrancy of the natural world and its smallest inhabitants.

Propagate Series:

The Propagate collection of striking artworks imagines a plant's experience of propagation and explores the parallels with human migration: the initial confusion, the grief for what’s lost in the change, and the promise of what comes next. The result is an emotional journey of freedom, violence and yearning that speaks to everyone who has ever left their world behind. Inspired by four common propagation techniques these artworks seek to draw attention to the plant's experience in a relatable way. This typographical art grew from the poetry I wrote for each method, as I drew upon my experiences as a British immigrant in Canada and learned to appreciate letter shapes for the visual stories they could convey. Seeds reflects the violence of forced displacement, and loss of home. Through ghazal stanzas, Cutting tells the emotional journey of a cut plant, highlighting the pain of parent-child separations. Layering explores the process of setting down new roots while continuing to be the extension of an established element, mirroring the colonial expansion that is depicted in the artwork’s erasure poetry. Division highlights the emotions of leaving home for adventure, and the friction that comes with seeking a new life elsewhere.