How would you describe your characteristic style? What makes it unique?
I think it is a mix between minimal but at the same time very colorful and graphic and unstructured, almost messy but at the end it is quite balanced. It’s not English, it’s not French, it’s like a sort of crazy Ikebana, maybe like an Ikebana with colors that would not be used in Ikebana. I also think that I play a lot with negative space and contrasts. The vase is very important. My style kind of developed because I designed my own vases and it went from there. I really started from the bottom up, from the vase, and then the flowers.
So there is a mix of visual languages in your work, do you think that comes from having lived in various countries?
I think so. I often get asked this, in Latin America everything is super colorful, like the Andean textiles. I went recently and people are really mixing things up, strange colors, and I think that’s where something in me came from, because I really love the Mediterranean aesthetic, but I can’t make it my own. I love the minimal look but I always need a counterpoint of color, you know, if I have something white, I need a black vase.
I learned a lot of techniques from Donna Stein who is Australian, and I learned to work with flowers here in Europe. And then my work became more minimal just naturally and then I found that this style came from Japan, like Ikebana, and so I think my style is a fusion between those three things. I also studied design so I have a very direct connection with the object, the object the flowers are in is very important to me, it comes as a whole package.
What draws you to abstraction?
Well I really like the negative space. I’m not a fan of opulence in general, I feel that sometimes in the West the stems are too tightly packed together, and you can only see the heads of the flowers, there’s no air. In abstraction you pay more attention to the stems, which I think is a very beautiful part of the flower. I think it’s also more artistic, you also pay more attention to the background too because you’re creating a void. It has a lot to do with the photo at the end, my work has also developed more into advertising than events, so there are several things to consider, like the background color and the final photo.
“I want my students to stop thinking you can only make a bouquet. I want them to think beyond, to see the beauty of the stems.”
I see you have collaborated with Laia Benandes, what is the dynamic like with the photographer on set?
At the beginning I was quite closed with the photographers really, I would make a set and I wanted it like that. That’s it. I think that with time I have realized the potential of the photographer, who has a different gaze or perspective, like my work with Laia. In the end it is nice when the photographer is more artistic, maybe the photographer has an idea and you work together. I think above all the joy of working with photographers is their power with lighting. Lighting is everything. If they are good at it, it changes the photo. Something can be very flat and they do these wonders with the light, and then, wow. It’s amazing how an arrangement can be seen in one way and through lighting it changes, I love the dialogue between the two.
You also teach, what do you want people to take away after your workshops?
I want them not to be afraid to cut the flowers. First of all if they have never touched a flower sometimes they’re like, what if I cut it? I like to teach them the different ways of cutting the same stem. I want them to see flowers as a creative tool like anything, like drawing, painting. I want my students to stop thinking they have to make a bouquet. I want them to think beyond, to see the beauty of the stems.
I also always focus on the vase in my workshops, I never teach bouquets, I don’t work the spiral technique, I always focus on the object. I like to teach them about color, the types of vases and how the same stem can be applied to different vases, where the stem will go depending on the vase. I want them to see that their arrangement has a rhythm. I make them try to visualize their arrangement, from there I get them to set an intention, which can range from emotion to color. I also talk about the flowers on a more holistic level and from there they set an intention.
In what way on a more holistic level?
I’m interested in Goethe who wrote The Metamorphosis of Plants and he talks about how each flower is related to a planet, he classifies all the flowers. There are Venus flowers for example, which are flowers seen as feminine because Venus is the feminine planet, all flowers that are like this have the shape of the uterus. People are drawn to all sorts of flowers for these kinds of reasons. If you infuse them in a drink they connect you with the feminine, so you get this whole herbalism side too. He proposes this holistic healing idea that whatever is down here is connected to up there, and so every flower is connected with a planetary archetype. So my classes can be linked to this philosophy, and the arrangements we create depend on these kinds of intentions.
Is there a project that changed everything for you?
I worked in a hotel for seven years and there I learned techniques. After seven years I got bored, I needed to do my own thing and I started making pots, and I started selling plants. I didn’t want to copy my teacher, I learned her technique and I knew how to compose like her and I was terrified that I would start to copy her. I really value individuality in general, at a creative level and I value florists who try to develop their own style and that’s why I didn’t want to copy her. So when I stopped working in the hotel I started selling plants. Ten years ago nobody sold plants with pots, so I made ceramic pots and I sold cactus, everything ready to go, you know? I didn’t want to sell plastic, I wanted the ceramics to play an important role. And from there I started making arrangements working with the vases, and was contacted to make pieces for shop windows via Instagram. That’s how it began.
What is a project you’re especially proud of?
There is one that stands out. I did a project a few years ago for Louis Vuitton in the desert. The production and installations were huge, large-scale, and the design was incredible. I was proud of that project, it was a challenge. I had never worked on something like that before, and we used artificial flowers, which was new for me, but it turned out great. I feel most proud of my work when I do something different, when I try something I haven’t done before.
Do you have any tricks for someone starting out in the business?
Let me think … I think the most important thing is teamwork. Understanding that many pieces are working together to create something. Especially in advertising, you’re part of a whole team, and everything has to come together. Like I mentioned earlier, I used to be more closed off to collaborating with photographers, but I’ve gained a lot from doing so, so it’s important to stay open, collaborate, and see the value in other perspectives. That’s something I’ve learned over time. It’s real life, and it also helps you learn more.
What do you want people to feel when they see your work?
I think I want them to wonder what they’re looking at, to analyse each bit of the flower taken apart. For them to be curious and examine what is real and what is not. It puts flowers in a new light. I’m interested in these kinds of fantasy arrangements, for example, I’ve been making glass stems lately, and I love playing with the idea of reality and non reality. Which flowers are actually like that? I want them to question what is real and what is fantasy.
