Arrangements
My current series Arrangements explores the beauty of what is discarded through the recomposition of spent bouquets, as bouquets have a special symbolism used to mark our rituals of goodwill even when they are meant as condolences. They bring out our deliberate desire to create beauty and symmetry as gifts, underscoring the best of our humanity. The symbolism of flowers in combination with their fleeting grace is a poignant reminder of our own frailty. It also reminds us of our disposable, youth-oriented society that is all too quick to discard beauty right after its prime and overlook the serene allure of the full cycle of life.
I found discarded bouquets as they wilted when still full of colour, shape and in transition, perhaps always in transition as decay eventually rekindles life. I rearranged them into compositions, exploring their new colours, shapes and fragile state. These compositions were always in flux, and new abstractions emerged as old ones faded. The process was a meditation in framing of a series of Maranasati meditations or a momento moris.
Through much experimentation, I settled on a hybrid scanographic process in combination with a dye-sublimation planographic process to render these compositions in high high-resolution and deep colour. Fusing the image into the aluminum surface, unlike inkjet prints, creating a more photographically accurate image protected from the elements with an archival life well beyond that of a chromogenic print.
Edward Peck
The Florist Wears Knee-Breeches
Wallace Stevens
My flowers are reflected
In your mind
As you are reflected in your glass.
When you look at them,
There is nothing in your mind
Except the reflections
Of my flowers.
But when I look at them
I see only the reflections
In your mind,
And not my flowers.
It is my desire
To bring roses,
And place them before you
In a white dish.
