Throughout history flowers have been used to assist in the funerary process. Posies were used by plague doctors to mask the stench of the dead. Marigolds are the official flower of Dia de Les Muertes due to their ability to guide souls from their burial grounds to their family homes. In ancient Egypt the Blue Lotus decorated tombs because of their rooted symbolism with the sun/rebirth. A white lily symbolizes the innocence that has been restored to the soul of the departed.
I started “A Pocket Full of Posies” by taking walks through cemeteries and picking stray flowers along the way. These small death bouquets were immediately printed as lumen prints and reshot as Polaroids. Draping the emulsion transfers over selenite plates; I grew salt crystals to encompass the entire piece like a tomb. The various stages of crystal growth created a metaphor for the range of physical decay. Incorporating multiple photographic processes became representative of layers of spiritual travel a soul embarks in the afterlife.
Suddenly, the flora became individual beings with their own distinct pasts and divergent futures into death.
