Kirsten Davis

My work aims to keep flowers relevant as a subject matter within contemporary art. By combining traditional floral still-life painting with contemporary concepts and ideas, I am keeping flowers alive. After researching into the history of the floral image, I became fascinated by how flowers have taken on countless meanings and forms over centuries, and even caused the Dutch economy to collapse after a brief period of ‘Tulip Mania’. Therefore, through my paintings, I am giving a nod to past techniques and artists, whilst moving forward into new ideas and concepts.

The pixilation of my paintings is a comment on the relationship between digital and traditional art. By including a digital concept into my work, the flowers are kept relevant among contemporary conditions, but also by depicting those pixels purely in paint, I am presenting a conflict between the two variations of art. Even though the pixels are interrupting the composition of the original image, my paintings remain bright and colourful, because I believe now more than ever, we should be appreciating the beauty of our natural world.

“I paint flowers so they will not die.”

– Frieda Khalo