"The Language of Flowers"
2018
Porcelain with underglaze, glaze, luster
Installation of 25 pieces, each 7 in. x 6 in.
Artist Statement:
My artwork explores my notions of identity and home through the creation of illustrated ceramic sculptures. Using female figures, iconography, and domestic scenery, I present personal themes of femininity, memory, and mental health to discuss what are ultimately universal experiences. I draw inspiration from historical portraiture for my figure's forms, clothing, and some imagery. Themes like longing, love, fragility, strength, and family have been depicted in art throughout history. Although we often feel isolated in our experiences, looking at women from the past helps me to see that I am not alone and to feel a sense of validation. I hope others can connect to my work in similar ways.
"The Language of Flowers" is an installation of 25 small paintings. Each painting is an illustrated detail from 18th and 19th century paintings of a hand holding a flower. For thousands of years, meaning has been attributed to flowers, and some form of floriography, or the use of flowers for communication, has been practiced in traditional cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Floriographycame to the height of its popularity during the Victorian era, where people would send one another coded messages in bouquets and the recipient would need to use a handbook to decipher them. I have reinterpreted and modernized these details by changing skin tones to includes a variety of ethnicities, and I have added my blurring glaze to bring emphasis to the relationship between floriography and mental health. For example, a rose means love, a carnation means refusal or disdain, and poppies mean consolation or remembrance.