Posing Banana — the painting that started it all.
Two years ago, I realised something surprising. While there are botanical exhibitions around the world, there are actually not so many of them. As a botanical artist, this made me stop and think — what if I could create something that still uses my botanical skills, but can live outside the strict botanical art world and reach a wider audience?
I decided to experiment. Instead of choosing a traditional botanical subject, I chose a banana.
In botanical art, bananas are not usually considered an “ideal” subject. They are rarely shown in exhibitions and often sit far away from the elegant flowers and classical plant studies. But I saw something in it.
I brought a banana into my studio and started playing with it. I moved it around, testing different positions, looking for character. At first it felt a bit silly, almost like a joke. But the more I looked, the more I felt it had personality.
It could look confident. It could look tired. It could look funny. It could almost feel human. At some point, I stopped seeing it as a fruit and started seeing it as a character. I found the pose that made me smile and I painted it.
The banana that started it all — posing in my studio, looking for its character.
A Painting With Humour In It
The finished work had humour in it — something quite different from my usual botanical paintings. I submitted it to a non-botanical exhibition and was accepted by The Holy Art Gallery in London.
When the exhibition opened, I delivered the painting to the gallery and attended the private view. My banana was hanging on the wall among many other artworks. I stayed in the room quietly. Not to show who I was, but because I wanted to see what would happen.
And something really stayed with me. People would walk past the painting… then stop. They would turn back. Look again. Smile. Sometimes laugh. Sometimes call someone over. It kept happening again and again.
My first exhibition for Posing Banana in The Holy Art Gallery in London
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Inessa Falina is a London-based botanical artist and teacher. A member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, she has exhibited at The Mall Galleries and Chelsea Old Town Hall, with work held in private collections across Europe, the USA and Australia. Through her art and teaching, she helps people slow down, observe nature deeply and find calm through the practice of painting. You can follow her work on Instagram at @inessa.falina
— Inessa
