Created in 2024 during a year’s hiatus from painting, The Agony of Flowers is a meditation on existential struggle, a reflection on the simultaneously barbaric and poignant fragility of life, where flowers bloom for a brief and glorious moment before withering away. My intention with this series was to consider experiences women grapple with when confronted by the inevitability of change. Unlike real flowers, that signal their fertility to available insects through pollen-loaded male stamens and female stigmas, the mesh, barbed wire, and dried peppercorns (representing infertility) of these papier-mâché sculptures contrast the life affirming grace of flowers to accentuate unavoidable decay. Flowers not only serve sentimental and emotional responses but have long been altered and manipulated for commercial purposes. However, throughout art history, they frequently denote secret codes: lilies for virginity; chrysanthemums for longevity and prosperity; daisies for innocence; and, more recently, red poppies to represent the appalling losses of war. The Neo-Gothic characteristics of these fantastical flower sculptures reflect the end-game of a flower’s life. While the implications are universal, The Agony of Flowers also became a response to my mother’s dementia as she defiantly resists the slow blur of her condition. In this context, flowers are a potent symbol for impermanence, loss, and the fleeting beauty of youth.