


Laura Shepherd
Further images
"Flower Power is an over-arching principal of my practice. A celebration of the
gratuitous beauty in flowers, it is employed as metaphor to bring levity and
spark joy. Furthermore, it perfectly sums me up as artist and citizen, in
embodying non-violent expression like the original flower power anti-war
marches defined by Allen Ginsberg is his 1965 essay “Demonstration as
spectacle, as example, as communication”.
During the second week of my residency I felt compelled to create a new flower
power work in response to the strong war narrative in the news. If ever we need
a resurgence of hippie anti-war activism; it’s now. So to advocate peace, and to
celebrate Valentines Day, I made a love machine. I researched diverse types of
energy mechanics from Nicola Tesla’s electronic motors to gravitational field
theory, and Ron Hubbard’s electropsychometer. Ultimately I took inspiration
from a car engine to symbolise a love making process."
Flower Power In One Word
How does it make you feel?
An exploration of the energy and power in form, texture and narrative to evoke
an emotional connection with the viewer. Flowerhead avatars are posed to
embody and express the energy of one word. Unlike the oft-used ‘untitled’
there is no escaping the title of each work which screams for attention. It is
purposefully out of place stylistically with the other elements in the scene to
create contrast and command the narrative.