Flower Power

In Flower Power, I explore tenderness as an active force, something offered, not assumed. The figure, built from wax strings, feels improvised and vulnerable, as if it could unravel at any moment. Yet it leans forward with intention, extending a single flower outward. This gesture which is simple, almost childlike, becomes the center of gravity in the painting.

The flower itself is exaggerated and radiant. Its bright petals pushing against the blankness that surrounds it. It stands in contrast to the white void, which isolates the figure and heightens the sense of exposure. There is no environment to anchor the moment, only the act of offering, suspended in space. The ground below, a dense band of tangled marks and color, suggests complexity, noise, or even chaos representing the world from which the figure emerges and into which it reaches. I am interested in the tension between fragility and generosity. The figure does not appear powerful in a conventional sense; it is slight, asymmetrical, and loosely constructed. But in extending the flower, it asserts a different kind of power, one rooted in care, openness, and risk. To offer something beautiful without knowing how it will be received is an act of courage.

The title, Flower Power, nods to both cultural memory and personal meaning. It evokes ideals of peace and softness, but here those ideas are stripped of nostalgia and placed in a more uncertain, contemporary space. What does it mean to choose gentleness now? What does it cost to remain open? This painting holds that question. It suggests that even in a fragmented, overwhelming world, small gestures like offering a flower can still carry weight. Not as solutions, but as beginnings.