This work is also part of Ireland's National Heritage Week 2020 (15-23 August 2019)
An Easter Lily and its Symbolism by Artist Yanny Petters:
"During the lockdown of the last few months I was drawn to musing upon artworks I had made in previous years and revisiting their inspiration.
This painting of a calla lily is inspired by the commemoration year of the Easter Rising and a painting I did for an exhibition entitled ‘Republic’ at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in 2016. I did further research into its symbolism drawing together a number of strands of thought and personal curiosity.
The Easter Lily was very much in my consciousness throughout my youth as there was a huge painting of one on a rock near my home. It was refreshed in bright green, white and gold every few years, but eventually faded away in the 1990s.
As a child I was aware of the use of flower symbols to denote different events in the community, such as the wearing of the poppy for Remembrance Day, or the Easter Lily at Easter to commemorate Irish republican combatants who died or were executed during the 1916 Rising.
The meaning was not explained to me as a child, but later in life when I looked into the symbolism of flowers as part of my interests in botanical art, I was intrigued with the variety of meanings any plant might represent.
The Calla Lily/Easter Lily is associated with the Virgin Mary, also with Venus, the goddess of beauty, and generally it is a symbol for purity, faith and the resurrection. The Easter Lily is said to have sprung up where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress.
Its symbolism of purity is accentuated by the plant growing in muddy places, a pure white flower emerging from bare earth.
In 1926 the Cumann Na mBan introduced the Easter Lily as symbol of remembrance for those who died during or were executed after the Easter Rising.
After the schism in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which led to the founding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (pIRA), at the end of the 1960's the Easter Lily was used by both organisations, but with a slightly different denotation.
The Official Irish Republican Army (oIRA) preserved the original meaning and
attached the Easter Lily with a self-adhesive backing. Hence, they got the nickname: Stickies.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army on the other hand used the traditional pin and expanded the meaning of the flower. They became known as Pinheads and used the Easter Lily to commemorate all those who died in the struggle for an independent Ireland.
In time the Easter Lily became more and more associated with the Provisional
Irish Republican Army (pIRA) and the practice of wearing a lily fell into disuse in the 1970's.
When I first painted the Calla Lily/Easter Lily for the exhibition in 2016, ‘Republic’ at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, I asked a friend if she had a plant I could work from. True to the symbolism of the pure white flower growing from the bare earth, I was able to dig up a plant from the muddy edge of her pond. It is now growing nicely in my own garden.
In 'Calla Lily Blue' the statuesque plant is surrounded by a deep blue background to emphasise the drama of the pure whiteness of the flower heads and luscious greens of the leaves. Blue is the colour most associated with the Virgin Mary, the colour representing the heavens. Significantly blue pigment was very costly to produce throughout history. Artists through the centuries have therefore used blue to represent glory, perfection, purity, beauty and wealth.
Stained glass artist Harry Clarke (1889-1931) is well known for his use of beautiful blues.
The design of my painting reflects The Arts and Crafts Movement in Ireland of the 1880s to the 1950s. I was always fascinated with this period, but also the Celtic revival and Celtic motifs and how they were incorporated into modern design. I have been inspired by the work of Harry Clarke, Mainie Jellett, William Morris and the Art Nouveau period. Many of the Arts and Crafts enterprises established in post-Famine (1870s) Ireland were motivated by philanthropy, and we proved a fertile ground for the decorative arts.
During my training as a sign writer I often used these elements in floral design to create decorative work. Within 'Calla Lily Blue' a number of these threads are drawn together: my love of plants, my interest in the meaning and symbolism in plants and my inspiration from decorative design. The painting has an intended tension complimented by the subtle forms in the blue background which I hope will draw the viewer to interpret the work with a personal resonance.
The juxtaposition of floral symbolism in our history can be a poignant reminder of the fragility of peace."
Yanny Petter, 2 July 2020
