This project looks at interpretive nature signage found in Irish parks, wetlands, and nature reserves. Hand-painted by regional wildlife artists the signs show us the animal and plant life living in the surrounding area. The signs display a romantic vision of the natural world; images teeming with wildlife, named and numbered. The weathered and decrepit signs reminded me of Victorian-era illustrations or the frescos at Pompeii.

The attempt to place an order on nature seems to be hard-wired in the human brain. From the earliest cave paintings to Linnaeus’ ambitious attempts to catalogue all of the world’s species, we have sought to make sense of the apparent chaos of the living world, arranging species into hierarchical groups through the prism of human vision. In seeing and naming the living world, we forge some of our deepest relationships with these elusive, wild things.

www.mylesshelly.com/projects/wildthings

A5 booklet folding out into an A2 poster (with cut in the center).

Litho print on Munken Lynx 130gsm.

Designed by: Steve O'Connell

Wild Things

Blue Flower

Rain