Included in the Saatchi Gallery’s exhibition Kaleidoscope last year, Tom Howse’s Botanical Selection sets out a display of tropical plants against the intensity of a black backdrop. Lush, green ferns, cacti, and even a large leafed Monstera plant provide a striking contrast to the inky blackness of their surroundings. Measuring over three meters wide, this large-scale canvas is one of the artist’s favourite formats: he claims he finds it easier to relate to what is being painted when working on this scale, saying ‘you lose yourself in it more when its bigger than you are’. Since graduating from the Wimbledon School of Art in 2008, Howse has exhibited his work widely in both the U.K. and Europe. In 2018, he was a winner of the John Moores Painting Prize, organised by the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art.