Spider Lily Red – Flare 1

Dress with a dyed lily petal on the beach.

Spider Lily Red – Flare 1 (2017) – Acid dye on silk.

A hand painted dress on the beach.
A hand painted dress on the beach.

Flare, as in, enliven.

A hand painted dress on the beach.

You would not find Spider Lilies at florists. They flower in fields in early fall as every other flowering plant withers, giving their distinctive red the perfect stage with no competing colors.

Since fall 2012 I have observed the lilies closely, especially through capturing their petals in macro photographs, as the ideas for this series crystallized.
The petals, about an inch long at most, while remaining nearly motionless – there are some, as they progressively curl – they manage to emanate the inspirative fluidity just as dynamic as that of the Ocean.

This is the first of the two-piece series with one half of a petal painted, on a slip, a type of garment designed to be worn closest to the skin not always intended to be seen by others, to enfold but also to express inwardly, to speak into oneself, in this case the language of the red lilies of the field, and of the universal, inspirative Fluidity.

Making of the series has been documented on this website.

A hand painted dress on the beach.

A flower petal dye drawing detail.
A flower petal dye drawing detail.
A flower petal dye drawing detail.

A flower petal dye drawing.

A dress with a lily petal drawing on night beach.

Above: Nightfall (2017, in association with the Ocean)