Smart Flowers
Artist Statement
Data shows that the average person spends over 3 hours on their phone daily, not only disturbing their circadian rhythm but also inducing a phenomenon known as forward-head hunchback posture.One outrageously stunning factor that revolves around Lewis Carroll’s style is his bizarre perspective. These unfamiliar forms bring great attention and interest in a unique, involving way that makes the audience assume comparisons and exaggerations that reflect our mundane perspectives. In effect, you become a part of the piece, absorbing the environment and allowing the environment to absorb you. The unique environment is preserved within these collections, all taking effect and advantage of our prior experiences and twisting them. I wanted to present a comparison; a comparison so unrealistic yet relatable that it brings chills when you realize that you were already part of it all along.
Humans and sunflowers. Both are obsessed creatures, always looking towards the light source of life. This sculpture presents grotesque, deformed sunflowers gathered under the influence of a smartphone. Under normal conditions, sunflowers have a natural tendency to constantly face the sun. However, in this sculpture, they are all facing the phone, displaying an image of the sun through Instagram.
“SmartFlowers” is composed of paper, foam plates, wood, wire, and googly eyes. The internal frames were made out of wood and wire, allowing them to retain their organic, forward-leaning posture. Crumpled rolls of green paper twist to form textured stems. For the heads, foam plates were heated using a heat gun, morphing them into irregular shapes and giving a serrated texture. Googly eyes, in place of sunflower seeds and also representing childhood nostalgia and growth, were surfaced onto the faces completely. The once cute, childlike gaze transformed into an eerie stare. Succumbed to gravity, the sunflowers' attention bow, eternally staring at the phone screen.
While these “distorted monsters” may appear exaggerated and unrelatable, you’ve already become part of the piece—everyone staring down onto the phone, hunchback, and focused on the source of all modern life: smartphones.
