Entire walls are filled with ferns, fungi, beetles and butterflies in the fall exhibition at the gallery Forum Botanische Kunst. During a scholarship, Japanese artist Asuka Hishiki discovered the wildlife in Germany's forests and designed an artist's wallpaper on the subject. She arranges plants and insects according to their habitat in the light or shady, damp parts of the forest. She thus illustrates a research project at the University of Würzburg, which is investigating the influence of clearings and deadwood on biodiversity in commercial forests. The design of this exclusive wallpaper was developed in creative collaboration with scientists from the Fabrikschleichach research station in the Hassberge mountains.

 

Cologne painter Andreas Hentrich also has a soft spot for ornamental papers. Small leaves punched out of origami paper fall to the ground like autumn leaves, flowers swirl through the picture. In very small or very large photorealistic watercolors, he captures their light movements and combines the fleeting play of chance with the arranged patterns of the paper designers.

 

The interplay between Germany and Japan, between ornament and nature, is complemented by classic plant and insect paintings by the two artist friends.