SUNFLOWERS

Are we one?

Sunflowers, 2011
Glass and stainless steel
Unique work
H70 x W80 x D12cm
© Mark Humphrey

COLLECTOR
Private collector

COLLABORATOR
Osbourne Samuel gallery

LOCATION
Mayfair, London, UK

“SUNFLOWERS TRANSFORMS THE SUNFLOWER INTO A PORTRAIT OF HUMAN CONNECTION. HAND-CARVED INTO LAYERS OF GLASS, THE FLOWERS EMERGE THROUGH MULTIPLE ANGULAR, OVERLAPPING PANELS, CREATING DEPTH AND A SHIFTING, ALMOST HOLOGRAPHIC PICTURE.

WITHIN THE FLOWERS, COUNTLESS HUMAN FORMS ARE INTIMATELY ENTWINED, THEIR BODIES CONNECTING AND BECOMING PART OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE SUNFLOWER ITSELF. INDIVIDUAL FIGURES RADIATE IN CIRCLES AND MERGE INTO SOMETHING LARGER – A CELEBRATION OF INTIMACY, SEXUAL FREEDOM AND THE INSTINCT TO CONNECT WITH ANOTHER.

THE SUNFLOWER BECOMES A MEETING POINT BETWEEN HUMANITY AND THE NATURAL WORLD. ITS WARMTH, RADIANCE AND ASSOCIATION WITH THE SUN EVOKE JOY AND VITALITY, WHILE THE HUMAN FORMS WITHIN IT SUGGEST THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE IS NOT SEPARATE FROM WHO WE ARE. WE ARE PART OF THE SAME LIVING SYSTEM, CONNECTED THROUGH DESIRE, REPRODUCTION, GROWTH AND THE NATURAL CYCLES OF LIFE.

THE LAYERED GLASS REINFORCES THIS IDEA OF CONNECTION. WHAT APPEARS FRAGMENTED UP CLOSE BECOMES A SINGLE IMAGE FROM A DISTANCE, JUST AS INDIVIDUAL LIVES CAN COMBINE TO FORM SOMETHING GREATER THAN THEMSELVES.”

Mark Humphrey