There are few things in this world that we humans did not invent. Such is the case with flowers. We try to hold on to their beauty, domesticate and understand them, although there is an intricate intelligence to flowers that we yet ignore. Mounting from the darkness of their roots to become fully bloomed in the light of the surface, they conquer their existence by emerging from below. They develop a complex machinery to overcome traps and they manufacture a seductive mechanism to revolt against the dangers that can interfere with their survival. Flowers are condemned to immobility from their birth to their death. Therefore, they know better than us how to stand up and rise in this rebellion for existence and rise into a moving and active world. We should then see Flowers as prodigious examples of in-submission, courage, perseverance and ingenuity.

Flowers constitute a backdrop to everyday life: lining highways and framing cities and parks, adorning our houses and gardens, growing and dying throughout the seasons. Despite this perception of flowers as background information, they are integral to the human experience, as they hold the power to nourish and heal, to poison and delight, to put us to sleep and intoxicate us, or even trigger an expansion of consciousness. At birth and death, blossoms are prerequisites, as they also are at festive mealtimes and celebrations. We give flowers as tokens of love, friendship, homage, and hospitality. I intend to honor Flower’s limelight by witnessing their subtle performances and embodiments of power while they overlook humankind and its belief in the ability to control global economies, geographical histories, and evolution. I am inviting Flowers to stand in the light, claiming the prominence of their existence.  

Installation designed and presented at Praxis Gallery July 2022. Flower vase by Marcela Caruso.