Flora Noir by Marcin Rusak

Marcin Rusak debuts his Flora Noir series – on view till 16 June – at New York’s Twenty First Gallery (featured in TLmag 27 and online this Thursday). The Polish-born London-based talent on-the-rise explores the themes of ephemerality, nostalgia, and family heritage through the use of waste material. By submerging store-bought flowers in large slabs of coloured resin, Rusak pays homage to his floriculturist grandparents. At the same time, the Design Academy Eindhoven- and RCA-trained designer makes symbolic statements about our relationship to nature and consumption. As if frozen in time, organic matter is constrained by man-made frames. the Flora Noir series – cabinets, tables, lamps, and screens – reveals multiple storylines; that of personal, cultural and environmental significance.

Incorporating a subtle interplay of layered metaphors – both visceral and clairvoyant – these still-life-like tableaus reveal a new level of decorative and craft-based prowess. The works achieve a hypnotic contrast between the complex details of petrified plant forms and the monolithic geometry of solid mass. One can easily get lost in the dark depths of the resin surfaces and feel the urge to delve in deeper. Eventually, sharp contours allow them to return to the present. The overall collection is a nod to the romanticism and extravagance of the revived Art Deco style – popular today – but perhaps more poignant, Flora Noir provides commentary on our contemporary condition. 

Flora Noir by Marcin Rusak: until 16 June
Twenty First Gallery: 458 West 22nd St. New York