In Lieu of Flowers

In my residency in Italy laid the foundation for the In Lieu of Flowers series. I explored the ancient town of Civita di Bagnoreggio, through the use of local vegetation including plant flora, architectural, and geological preservation and the links between fragility, loss, and separation. Popular in Victorian times gifts of flowers were given as secret coded messages called floriography to express feelings that were forbidden in society. In lieu of the flowers, I created color fields with flower petal stain as the medium in solid unbroken planes to focus on color and meaning as subject and object. This body of work, also references social histories making them visible by reappropriating flower petals and recontextualizing their intended form through areas of color. Species and floral colors were chosen for their meaning. What remains are permanent stains that transform over time mirroring loss and fragility and a preserved message of reconnection from the past to the present. The series explores fragility, transition, and memory with the immediacy of the process, extending the ephemeral life of what was once flowers and connecting the past to the present.For inquires contact my studio.