(Business Lounge Jurnal – Art) Rebecca Louise Law is The British contemporary artist. Her father is a gardener and during her youth, two things inspired her to be a painter: Gardens and nature. So she studied Fine Art at university, exploring the possibilities of color and specializing in painting and printmaking at Newcastle University, UK.
Later on, she felt dissatisfied with just painting, and decided to do something else: art installation. Always fascinated with gardens and nature, she chose flowers as the medium of her works. Her method is to always work with fresh flowers, or dried, rarely changing the stricture of the flower itself. Her installations are designed to start fresh, and dry slowly.
In what she described as an ambition to demonstrate the lifecycle of flora, her large scale works mostly featuring the lifecycle of flowers, evoking a sense of natural beauty and melancholy. According to her, every stage of a flower’s lifespan can be appreciated, from seed to flower.
Her artworks attracts big brands such as Hermès, Max Mara, and Jimmy Choo. What is most refreshing about these commercial projects is — that she has complete freedom on her work.
Today, Living and working on and around Columbia Road, famous in UK for its weekend flower market, she found a lot of sources for inspirations
BL: Business Lounge Journal
RL: Rebecca Louise Law
BL: If there is one thing, you would want us to know about you, what would it be?
RL: I love people.
BL: What is art for you?
RL: A platform to create without boundaries.
BL: What inspires you?
RL: I have always wanted to recreate an experience I had as a child. Sitting in a field of flowers in awe of nature. I love to share nature’s beauty with the viewer and my installations are a snap shot of the natural world, I’m always striving to create artworks that allow the viewer to observe and appreciate what we have been given on this Earth.
BL: What does it feel like, with your workplace literally surrounded by great quantity of flowers?
RL: When you are completely surrounded by flowers the feeling is fantastical.
BL: Tell us about your first large scale floral installation in 2003. What or who inspired you?
RL: ‘Dahlia’ 2003 was my first large-scale installation using flowers. I had been experimenting with materials to create an overwhelming sense of colour in 3D. Previously I had specialised in painting and printmaking. I loved the process of trying to keep the work alive whilst it was dying and preserving became integral to the work.
BL: Is there any artists who inspires you?
RL: I love Kandinsky and Rothko. The freedom of colour and scale has always amazed me.
BL: What is your philosophy?
RL: The relationship between man and nature is central to my practice.
BL: Ever get a feeling of running out of ideas?
RL: Nature has always inspired me, from land to sea to sky I’m in awe. Flowers have been a difficult material to control and I’m still learning about the limitations of such an ephemeral material. I’m yet to recreate what I experienced as a child and I’m not sure if I ever will. For now I’ll keep pushing flowers as my medium.
BL: Any works or installations that you wish you could ‘pour more’ into?
RL: I find it hard when commissioned by brands. Sometimes a brief can be too restrictive.
BL: What is your favorite work, so far?
RL: I had over 250 art assistants to help create ‘Flowers: Outside In’ at Viacom in New York. It was incredible creating an artwork made by so many people. I love bringing people together through my practice.
BL: Any projects going on that you want to share with us? Anything for the future?
RL: I have a few solo exhibitions coming up in the next year and my 5 year plan is to continue to share the beauty of this earth with the world.
The Gallery
Ruth Berliana/VMN/BL
Pictures: Rebecca Louise Law