Interconnected

This design was staged for a National Convention with the title the same as the theme for the Convention – Interconnected.

The staging base provided was a circular board 1.2m in diameter. Judging was all around.

Although not clear in the image, I have used a strip of wire mesh wrapped around a central metal pole stand as the structure for the plant material.

Using the gymea lily (Doryanthes excelsor) as the focal plant material – flower in full, flower in sections, flower stalk and foliage, I wanted to create a sense of “interconnectedness” between the parts of the plant.

The foliage and parts of the flower are caught in the wire mesh to simulate a swirling motion.

Looking back on this design after 4 years, I can see obvious problems with it. This is the benefit of taking photos and revisiting them when you are designing something similar.

This design did not place in the competition.

Judges comments: Although a striking use of plant material, there is no real movement for the eyes in this design. The extraneous placement of fern takes your eyes from the design and is too fine a foliage for the strength of the other placements. Better use of the space allocation would improve the design.

I can see exactly what the judge is saying now. I should have used more of the gymea foliage to provide large swirls around the single full flower, taking up more of the circular space allocated and taking the eyes in and through the design. The placements of the parts of the flower look like blobs of colour rather than part of the “interconnected” story.

It’s always useful to review your designs after some time has passed. It’s not being critical of your work, it’s an opportunity to see how much you have learned since that design was staged!

Scroll to Top