FLORENTIN by Mercedesz Nagy
F
lorentin’s flower-motif comes from an old book about medieval architecture and ornaments. It was decorating a wall in a monastery’s cloister.
These tetragonal, half-opened spaces were designed for meditation and contemplation—exactly the same idea evoked in me observing the undulate but smoothed down lines of this flower. I multiplied the pattern and eked out the interspaces with assimetric rhombs to make a constant and telling marking. The name, Florentin—which can refer to the capital of the Renaissance—is also a male name with the concurrent meaning of “flourishing, thriving” and “considerable”. It derivates from the tender “flower” but it still stands for the shielding, eternal man. Just as the main character of the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera, Florentino Ariza, who at the age of 80 enthralls his childhood love. He is tenacious and steady but extremely gentle—similar to flower patterns cast in concrete.
Mercedesz Nagy | Drawing and designing has played a substantial role in her life since childhood. At the time of deciding on a career, she opted for literature and aesthetics rather than fine art. Although as a profession she chose philosophy of art, the process of creation has remained a vital background, a meditative basis and a constant source of joy.
Tile elements: 2 different forms
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Recommended colours: Moon Garden | Reliable Shaman