From Monet to Georgia O’Keefe, to Van Gogh to Andy Warhol, a bloom, a flower, is one of the oldest subjects of art in history. We are drawn to it over and over again, in art and in life. We give flowers to friends and lovers, we plant flowers in our yards as we make our house a home, we pick and press them, saving them as keepsakes to remember precious moments. They are delicate, inspiring, and full of natural beauty. Flowers offer us endless joy not just due to their graceful form and shape, but also because of what they symbolize, what they inspire in us.
To see a flower grow is special, but nothing is as spectacular as the end result: the bloom. The bloom is the fruit of the flower’s labor, it’s final form. It symbolizes growth and opening oneself up, something that is a necessary constant in an artist’s life. To bloom is to become your truest form, to unapologetically let your light shine.
In this exhibition, 31 artists take on this timeless subject, each putting their own unique spin on what it means to bloom. Rooted in flora, the works include photography, paintings, cut paper, digital art, textiles, and more. These magnificent works are proof that the grass is greener where you water it—and each artist’s time, labor, determination, and creativity has come together to create a diverse garden of works.
Words by Christina Nafziger