One day I met a man in Powell's book store in Portland, Oregon; he was making flowers out of paper napkins.  I sat with him for a while and made flowers out of tape.  After walking away from our meeting I realized that I could -- if  I wanted -- just sit in one place and make flowers out of tape for the rest of my life and everything would be wonderful.  

 

I have a complicated relationship with the tape flowers I create.  Every flower I have ever put up for sale has sold.  They are found to be some of the more beautiful parts of my artwork by others.  I have made so many that I have became bored and sworn them off, but they keep creeping back into my work.  

 

Many of the flowers in Titian Arum are not reminiscent of a traditional flower if you came across it individually.  I try to push the floral forms I am currently making into a realm of fantasy and science fiction.  Adding human imagination to something nature has perfected over billions of years intrigues me and brings me back to the form.

 

The title of this installation is a play of words with the name Titan Arum, also known as the Corpse Flower, and the painter Titian, the famous Italian Renaissance painter known for his deft use of color.  The Corpse Flower has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, much like the piece with its breathtaking cluster of blooms.  The work currently consists of over 3,000 components, each flower has magnets adhered to its back.

 

This piece of art was made over the course of 5 years when I found free time and was wondering what to do next.  It is always expanding and growing, designed to show the range of texture and of color that is possible to achieve with masking tape and a pair of scissors.  Each tape resin flower is individually magnetized to a 4’ by 20’ mesh metal screen.