‘Flowers from the Frontline’ Series
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‘Flowers from the Frontline’ Series
Archivist Exhibit, Garden Museum, London
12th November - 22nd December 2022
The Ukrainian war flower series that finds beauty and growth in a time of destruction.
British jewellery designer Phoebe Walsh has created a series of 5 miniature flower pressing books in recycled Sterling Silver, each containing a single war flower from the new frontlines in Kyiv. The project began in March when a brave Kyivan artist Olga Morozova agreed to go searching for flowers as her city fell ablaze.
Inspired by the Garden Museum’s collection of Wildflower pressings made by Jane Lindsay in 1956, from London’s WWII bomb sites, along with flowers picked from the Eastern Front on the battlefields by WWI soldier George Marr, this series works with flowers picked from the new frontlines in Ukraine.
Phoebe commented, ‘It was two days after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine, that I found myself seeking solitude in flowers at the Garden Museum, burying my head in old pressings of medicinal plants from the 17th century. There I was, unable to find the words to channel my feelings, and dreaming of remedies, methods of escaping the terrible events unfurling.’
Each of the five miniature books are small enough to fit on the palm of your hand. Engraved on the front with wildflowers, a trident on the spine and a solitary sunflower on the back. A single rotating page inside each book contains a moment of flourishing frozen in time - a single botanical, picked from an unknown park in Kyiv as war descended and tore up the landscape. The War flowers, pressed and brought in books that once celebrated the great architecture of Kyiv, were picked by Morozova in the first spring as frost thawed and bombing raids tormented Kyiv.
The objects intend to spark a much needed conversation about the continued atrocities happening in Ukraine. The series is a symbol of hope and flourishing in a time of great suffering. A reminder that while life may be fragile, is it resilient. Alongside painting studies Olga made of Popudrenko park, there are botanicals picked from villages outside of Kyiv and illustrated journal studies.
‘Flowers from the Frontline’ Series is on show at the Archivist exhibit, in the Garden Museum in London, from November 12th - December 22nd 2022. After touring, the series will be auctioned individually to raise money for artists in Ukraine. Contact hello@phoebewalshjewellery.com to find out more.
About Phoebe Walsh
Phoebe Walsh is a London based jeweller who specialises in botanical inspired jewellery; often celebrating the humblest of forms in finely textured recycled silver and gold, such as blades of Common Grass. Her designs weave together elements from the natural world, myth and folklore. Phoebe received a First-Class Honors in Fine Art from the University of Leeds, before gaining her Jewellery Diploma at The British Academy of Jewellery. Over the past 7 years, she has actively worked in Hatton Garden and been mentored by London's most eminent contemporary designers. In 2017, Into the Meadows (Silver, Fine Gold plate,) was exhibited in A Museum of Modern Nature, Wellcome Collection, London. Her forthcoming collection, Loveletter to Kyiv, will be a continuation of work from Olga’s Herbarium, with each design containing cast war flowers within. The collection will help raise 20% profits for artists in Ukraine.
About Olga Morozova
Olga Morozova is a Ukrainian artist born in Kyiv. She received a master's degree in painting from the National Academy of Arts and Architecture in 1998. She has participated in more than twenty solo exhibitions and over one hundred group exhibitions and international projects. In 2019, Morozova represented Ukraine in Dubai at the exhibition ‘Women Artists from 100 Countries’; in 2022 she took part in the exhibition of Ukrainian artists as part of the Venice Biennale; and in December 2022 she will represent Ukraine at the Asian Art Bienniale in Bangladesh. Filmmaker Carmela Corbett is currently working on a feature length documentary entitled Flowers from the Frontline, which will explore the artist’s life and the power of art created during war.
Image Credits
Herbarium, of Olga’s Flowers, Courtesy of Philip Norman.
The Herbarium of war flowers from Kyiv, picked by Olga Morozova. The miniature flower books contain some of these botanicals.
