"Share widely" is a phrase I became pretty fixated on as the months of lockdown dragged on, and I spent many waking hours on social media, specifically Instagram. Stories became endless streams of people helping each other through mutual aid efforts like I'd never seen before, friends assisting friends to get more visibility by sharing their latest content. Perhaps this had been going on for longer than I caught up to, but fundraising had gone viral through my eyes and phone. I was determined to find a way for my art, which is quite traditional in subject and materials (oil paintings of flowers) to amplify social justice initiatives; I wanted to make something precious that would invite pause and reflection, and I wanted to make something that not only grabbed your attention visually but carried with it messages of urgency for allyship and systemic change. I noticed the floral and advocacy work of Flower Shop!!!, a queer-owned business in West Philly that, coupled with the floral images I'd seen on Instagram, would include loud call-to-action messaging for anti-racism, police brutality, and mental health in Philly. I questioned how these images and messages could be shared widely online and in physical spaces.
The Legacy Painting series took shape after months of experimenting with materials and concepts. The paintings in this series are vibrant portraits of flower arrangements, as seen on the Instagram account @flower_shop_phl. Acrylic and oil are painted on two canvases (one on top of the other, 2 x 2 inch and 4 x 4 inch) to enhance a three-dimensional visual effect, a black square to replicate the Instagram square we all came to love and cancel. Moreover, paintings hover just below a thin piece of plexiglass- an element that mimics my phone screen where I first saw the image, but in this case, the plexiglass's only purpose is to protect the paintings. Gold-plated stud earrings (a reference to my being a jewelry maker) affix the plexiglass to the 4 x 4-inch canvas at all four corners. The work is further embellished with a hand-stamped brass nameplate crediting Flower Shop!!! A QR code adheres to the back of the canvas that, when scanned, takes the viewer to the Instagram post where the image and call-to-action for community support originated. In this format, I hope to share these grassroots efforts in public art spaces, giving an analog perspective on information sharing with contemporary fine art.
Philadelphia Flower Shower with @_yafavtrashman 2021
4X4in, acrylic, oil, earrings, plexiglass, hand-stamped brass name plate, twisted metal easel, QR code (on back)
Manhattan bagel for scale*
