What’s the story behind the portrait you did of Stella's iris?  

It’s part of my ‘We Share Our Chemistry With The Stars’ series, which is really about the connections people share. The series of portraits are from many different people of all ages, sexes and places in the world and the artwork is about the connections between them all. You can’t tell who they are by looking at them, it’s about the human and our common humanity. 

How does nature inspire, inform and influence your artistic practice? How do you stay connected to Mother Earth? 

We are all part of nature and nature is part of us so I can’t make art that isn’t about nature. 

What do you want people to know about your Light into Life exhibition at Kew?  

‘Light into Life’ is an exhibition about our connection to plants and nature. Plants came before animals and people they cleaned the atmosphere of carbon dioxide which enabled animals and people to appear. We are intimately connected to them. The artworks in the show are meditations on those connections.  

Do you think it's important that creative culture, whether it be art or fashion, raise awareness for important causes?  

Art to me is about what it is to be a person in the world, sometimes it’s about beauty, sometimes it’s about causes, sometimes it’s about causes, sometimes it’s about history, always it’s about our connections to other people and the planet on which we live.  

Marc Quinn’s ‘Light into Life’ exhibition will be at Kew Gardens until 29th September 2024. 

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