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Artist Inspiration
- Freda Wilken
- May 1, 2017
- 4 min read
Paige Bradley, "Expansion"
At first what inspired me about this piece was the open-ness off the body and the sense of reaching to a higher power, or perhaps tapping into another world beyond. The light from inside really rounds the piece off in my opinion and give that impact punch. It can be interpreted into so many ways but for me it was a symbol of hope, life, beauty and power within yourself.
Her quote "From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a container already built for us to fit inside" is the second point that captured my attention. I often reflect on these ideas of society's shifting ideology of beauty and standards that we try to live up to. At some point in life we all experience rejection or fear of rejection at some point, we look at advertisements, at the fashion industry and we follow the Hollywood stars beauty trends in order to imitate their style. We get trapped into consumerism too easily in order to have the latest coolest product on the market, so much that we become a slave to the system.
What if you could just wear that old brown cardigan with holes in without any judgement. What if you could just forget to comb your hair for one day and not wear any makeup, would you step out the house without feeling like the whole world is noticing? What if you just felt like wearing the same top as yesterday without a passing comment. How wonderful would it not be if you could just leave the house without a bra and set yourself free on a hot day, without some catcalling or rolling eyeballs.
The yoga position is considered to the meditation and healing pose and it is truly inspiring in a difficult time when there is so much destruction, hate, evil wrongdoings happening in the world. This pose also gives me a sense of vulnerability and fragility of our human condition.
I felt a connection with her work especially the piece surrounded by nature, for me it resembles that connection we have with nature and links to my environmental research and seeking organic methods of healing through healthy live nutrition, as a way of rebelling against the pharmaceutical industry, which promotes good health but instead, in some cases, it only masks the problems and offers only a temporary fix, instead of resolving the origin of the issue.
"A flower doesn't compare or compete with the flower next to it, it simply blooms"
Flower Anatomy Artists
Shawn Michael Foley, Florist and Photographer - https://www.shawnmichaelfoley.com/
'Ladies of levity' - Lone Morch
-https://www.lonemorch.com/explored-life-blog/2014/12/13/making-light-of-it
Floriography has been a strong focal point in my work for a long time which was inspired from the novel I read called 'Language of flowers' by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love.
“A flower is not a flower alone; a thousand thoughts invest it.”
"Daffodils signal new beginnings, daisies innocence. Lilacs mean the first emotions of love, periwinkles tender recollection. Early Victorians used flowers as a way to express their feelings—love or grief, jealousy or devotion. Now, modern-day romantics are enjoying a resurrection of this historic custom, this book shares the historical, literary, and cultural significance of flowers with new generations."
Floriography: The Language of Flowers in the Victorian Era
http://www.proflowers.com/blog/floriography-language-flowers-victorian-era
"During the Victorian Era, floriography became commonly used to express secreted messages that Victorian etiquette deems unacceptable to share openly. The language of flowers involved more than the simple meaning given to a flower. It also referred to the combining, presenting, and even the receiving of flowers. Victorian-Era Etiquette Much of Victorian etiquette was dictated by who was around to observe the behaviours and manners of others. There was a clear distinction between upper class, middle-class, and the poor. Proper etiquette often limited communications based on people of another social status, of a different gender, or within social situations."
I chose to use Chrysanthemums in the show as they are cost effective and sold in bulk, but more importantly for their meaning of 'truth'. As insecure humans we often hide our true feelings from not only society but sometimes ourselves. We often live in denial, we suppress these desires in an attempt to avoid dealing with the emotions linked to them. Disappointments are often the reason for suppressing these inner dwellings and therefore we may think that we are protecting ourselves from future disappointments by hiding these emotions as deep down in our hearts' archives in order to cope with it, but what if we could just let go, release ourselves from the prison of our minds and our hearts. What if we could just swallow flowering seeds, let it sink deep down in every part of our being, nurture them until they take root, absorb all the compost of bitter, despair and regret until the seeds start to germinate into seedlings that fill our veins and strengthen us, feel it sprouting out from every pore and watch it emerge into full bloom.
"From deep wounds are seeds waiting to grow beautiful flowers"~Niti Majethia
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