My Flowers that Never Die
By Emma Johnson
Photographs of my flower collection that grows over time, just not in length. They were made through crochet, which is my favorite art form because it keeps my hands busy, relieving my stress. Crocheting is the ultimate artistic medium to me because it acts as both a fidget toy and an adaptable, funky
canvas. If you zoom in, the imperfections become more visible; you can see my learning curve if you closely scan the edges of the petals or the yarn tails. You can see when my skills matured and my hands warmed up to shaping the flower bulbs. Crochet can breathe new life into inanimate objects or, in this case, transform a living organism into an inanimate object. You can
replicate a flower in full bloom or as a bud, or the two can coexist forever in those phases. Or you can design your dream flower. I think that crochet is the most forgiving medium–it’s easy to undo, add on, combine, bend, twist, or bead with exact precision. It’s also less strict than sewing. There are no rules to execute a particular silhouette. A project feels more like a flow, or a song playing throughout the body and ringing through your fingertips. But like sewing, it requires your patience. You have to form a trusted relationship
between the hooks and your hands that can only happen over time. I got inspiration for these flowers from the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.
