plants

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Art Craft

Delicate Vessels Sculpted with Pressed Flowers by Ignacio Canales Aracil

Spanish artist Ignacio Canales Aracil creates vessels reminiscent of upside-down baskets using nothing but pressed flowers. The art of flower pressing dates back thousands of years; pressed flowers were reportedly discovered in a 3,000-year-old coffin of Tutankhamun’s mother in Egypt, and both Greek and Roman botanists were known to preserve plants using techniques that continue today. But Aracil’s method is a bit different, relying on large cone-shaped molds into which carefully woven patches of hand-picked flower stems are placed. The pieces dry for up to a month without the aid of adhesives and are sprayed with a light varnish to protect the sculpture from moisture. The final pieces, which could be crushed with even the slightest weight, are rigid enough to stand without support.

Aracil currently has work as part of a group show at Lucia Mendoza gallery in Madrid through the end of February, and you can see much more over on his website.

Art

Iced Flowers: Exotic Floral Bouquets Locked in Blocks of Ice by Azuma Makoto

The self-described botanic artist Azuma Makoto is trying to change the way we look at flowers. He’s used water and the stratosphere as backdrops for his exotic flower arrangements but now he’s experimenting with ice. In his latest exhibition “Iced Flowers,” Makoto locks floral bouquets in large blocks of ice and displays them like pillars. Placed in an inorganic chamber, the “flowers will show unique expressions that they do not display in everyday life,” says Makota. The installation, held last week in Japan, was temporary by nature but the artist made sure to preserve the images. (syndicated from Spoon & Tamago)

Art

Mona Caron’s Murals of Weeds Slowly Overtake Walls and Buildings

As part of her ongoing Weeds project, artist Mona Caron (previously) has begun photographing the progress of her murals step-by-step, creating short animations of growing plants in public spaces. Caron has recently painted murals of weeds in her native Switzerland, India, and around her current home in San Francisco in what she describes as “a tribute to the resilience of all those beings who no one made room for, were not part of the plan, and yet keep coming back, pushing through and rising up.” Definitely watch the video above to see more of these plants coming to life, and you can learn more here. (via Laughing Squid)

 

Art

Nunzio Paci’s Graphite and Oil Paintings Merge Nature and Anatomy

Italian artist Nunzio Paci works with pencil and oil paints to create strange amalgamations of plants and animals in what he describes as an intent to “explore the infinite possibilities of life, in search of a balance between reality and imagination.” Paci currently has a solo show including several of the pieces you see here at the Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna through October 12. (via Artchipel)

Art

A Swirling Willow Figure Rises from the Grounds of Shambellie House in Scotland

The Whirling Dervish was a willow sculpture by artist Trevor Leat that was installed in 2012 at Shambellie House, in New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Leat is known for his work with willow trees which he grows organically for use in furniture, baskets, and sculptures. Unfortunately, Shambellie House, which housed the National Museum of Costume, closed in 2013, so this piece may no longer be viewable. (via Colossal Submissions)

Science

Timelapse of Dormant ‘Rose of Jericho’ Plants Exploding to Life After Exposure to Water

The Rose of Jericho (Selaginella lepidophylla) is a species of desert moss that has the amazing ability to ‘resurrect’ itself after bouts of extreme dehydration lasting months or even years. After just a few hours of exposure to moisture the plants burst to life, uncurling from a tight ball of dry leaves to a green flower-like shape. Videographer Sean Steininger shot this timelapse of several plants as he exposed them to water. (via Cause, Science!)

Update: Apparently a few places sell these plants online.