Caroline O' Callaghan

WHERE FLOWERS BLOOM

INTERVIEW WITH CAROLINE O'CALLAGHAN

Caroline O'Callaghan has a rare ability to uncover and share the magic, beauty and mystery found in the natural world around us. Through her work as a botanical artist, she finds the aesthetic balance amidst nature's contradictions and often highlights the subtle, hidden or unnoticed details.

Indeed, Caroline’s masterful creations bring together flowers and botanicals in sculptural forms and colours that capture nature at its magical best. We recently caught up with Caroline who shared with us what attracted her to botanical art, what it entails to be a flowertist and how Malta inspires her.

What attracted you to the world of botanical art?

Although my artistic background was traditional in that I studied fine art at Goldsmiths College at the University of London, I have always loved flowers and even trained as professional florist straight after graduating from Goldsmiths. In that sense, it was quite natural to eventually combine the two. Flowers and botanicals provide an extremely versatile and sculptural palette with which to express myself.

What is a flowertist?

The word “Flowertist” is a portmanteau of “flower” and “artist”. It is also a fun play on the “isms” or movements within art.

I was recently struck by a quote from the botanical illustrator, Minelli Lucy France, "Sometimes I defy flower anatomy and sometimes I try to replicate it intricately." Does this apply to your work as a Flowertist?

I can definitely relate to that. There is always a natural tension between remaining faithful to the subject, particularly when it is something as naturally beautiful as a flower, and delivering to the eye what it yearns to see. Intuitively finding the right balance is a critical and wonderful part of the creative process.

How does Malta inspire you?

When a country as small as Malta absorbs such an array of influences through its incredibly rich history, it evolves into a very vibrant and creatively stimulating culture. I love to draw inspiration from that history and culture, which always feels close at hand in my studio in a house of character.

Your source of inspiration is a conglomeration of several concepts. Can you tell us more?

Lots of influences are expressed in subtle ways but the two most readily identifiable are the Japanese floral art form, Ikebana, and the 17th century Dutch Old Masters. The Ikebana influence, particularly from the Nageirebana style, manifests itself in the elegant balance of chaos and calm. The lush colours and the original concept of using art to preserve a beautiful but naturally short-lived subject are inspired by the Old Masters.

How are such works of art developed?

In its bare essence, the creative process involves a sculptural component and a colour component. The structural process is about juxtaposing threedimensional forms in a way that to me is artistically optimal while also having the structural stability to remain fixed in place. The colour is also a critical part of the process and typically begins when I settle in my mind upon a small colour palette and then apply that to the selection of the three-dimensional forms.

Is there enough awareness on such art?

The beauty of flowers has been appreciated for centuries but this more contemporary treatment using silk flowers brings new ways of enhancing and sharing that beauty. The astonishing quality of silk flowers available today plays a vital role in this. They enable me to create pieces that can be everlasting but importantly, they also obviate the need to harvest and destroy enormous quantities of fresh flowers for the sake of a few days of aesthetic pleasure. Perhaps this is an area where we could all benefit from more awareness – the unnecessary waste of natural resources driven by an overreliance on the fresh flower market.

The famous American author Junot Diaz once noted, "The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art." To what extent do you agree?

I completely agree. When producing art, there is almost no choice. Losing one’s sense of time in the creative process is not only natural but also necessary to be truly artistic. From the perspective of the viewer, art at its best can provoke a thought, an emotion, a visceral reaction of some kind. And when it does, for a fleeting instant we might just press the “pause button” on the world around us and be joyfully lost in the wonderment of the art. But if we’re unwilling to listen to the art, as Diaz puts it, then we might never enjoy such moments.

How have you survived the current coronavirus period?

Amidst the tragic public health and economic consequences of the Coronavirus, which I would never wish upon us, the slowdown in daily life has actually provided a more fertile environment for creativity, which I suppose has been a silver lining of sorts. To return to Diaz’s observation, it is as though culture has taken a break from telling us to hurry, which has made it far easier to listen to the art.

There is always a natural tension between remaining faithful to the subject, particularly when it is something as naturally beautiful as a flower, and delivering to the eye what it yearns to see.

What's next on your agenda?

I hope to continue drawing inspiration from life around me and all of the visual arts in order to feed the creativity, while also seeking to evolve technically. I am also deeply involved in a fine art collaboration with the fabulous photographer, Nadette Clare-Talbot, and we have a lot of exciting ideas for future works. In short, I will follow the art and see where it takes.