At the same time that our National Botanic Gardens were developing in the early 19th century, so to the Dahlia flower was making its way from Mexico to Madrid.  In the care of a senior member of the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Spain, the Dahlia would travel far and wide and indeed this simple flower would become an obsession for gardeners for the next 200 years.  From its humble beginning in the plains of South America, few could have predicted how much this flower would change through European plant breeding.  Indeed, our Botanic gardens boasts some 60 varieties of the Dahlia.  And so in the same way that horticulturalists have been captivated by the breeding and manipulation of this flower, I too became obsessed with the possibility of some manipulations of my own!

For me this flower sums up perfectly the symmetry of form that is abundant in the plant world. What could be more perfect, more beautiful than the ball shaped Dahlia with its uniform petals that form together to completely fill its spherical head?  This sculpture portrays the flamboyant nature of this flower and depict the dramatic formation of the petals as they emerge from the centre of the bloom.  

A single flower head can grow as large as 30cm – so for this piece I have focused on these larger varieties.  The pieces were constructed using a highly grogged crank clay.  The individual ceramic spheres were hand built and then each separate petal was formed and modelled on to the body.  I hope in these pieces to express the wealth of energy and vitality I see in this flower and indeed to allow the viewer to see this too.  The Dahlia is not shy - instead it is bold, it is ostentatious, it is loud and proud - as only a flower can be.