2024 :: Preservation of Blooms Past
Carnation Contemporary, Portland OR
"Preservation of Blooms Past"
hand-painted polyester fabric, recycled glitter shoe, dried flowers; personal belongings including photographs, a vintage coin, a dried carnation, found fabric, cardboard, paper, acrylic paint and ink encased in recycled plastic bag
22" wide, height and width variable
The summer of 2024 I found a dead dried carnation on the studio floor at Mount Gretna School of Art in Pennsylvania. I wondered who it had belonged to previously, and what kind of love it represented for them. I tucked it away to reflect on later, when I returned to Seattle.
While unpacking my things, I stumbled on my own memories of blooms past: images of beloved deceased family members, relics that were once looked at or used daily, and dreams typed on paper and painted over as the ideas evaporated. These collected items were kept in a box, hidden from view, only to be pulled out in moments of quiet reflection. By arranging them together in a transparent bag - the same kind I use for keeping dried herbs collected from my garden - I attempt to preserve the memories in the same way medicine is preserved in dead dried flowers.
