I Picked You A Flower is a group exhibition I participated in at the beginning of 2020. Refer to my December 19th post for details. Inspired by the theme of the exhibition and my love of plants and color, I focused on the tradition of using flowers to communicate, and the specific meanings attributed to them. One of my first ideas with this flower was the classic and melodramatic image of the passionate tango dancer with a rose in their mouth. A cliche possibly started in an old Rudolph Valentino movie. My thought was why not instead use a small bunch of roses to push it to an extreme. To somehow illustrate the themes of uncontrolled animal passion, drama, pain, and on the other side of that, the peace and beauty of death.

“It is the flower of desire and forgiveness. To give away when you want to let people know that you are willing conquer everything and orange roses are just the beginning of a long and passionate courtship.”

Daphne & Cloe. Language and meaning of flowers. Edizioni R.E.I., 2017.