“Growth” brings a photographic series in which flowers are the main element. There are also leaves, tree or plant’s branches and fruits among flowers and on the floor, even if they are not seen.
The bouquets are made of elements that have been separated from nature, denying themselves a later development. Their growth and withering process at the same place has been interrupted. Photography achieves its role of freezing the key moment, just before nature changes its appearance. “Growth” doesn’t look for finding the art in nature but the art that is able to produce nature itself. Flowers are isolated with the intention of focusing on their own beauty. Another component that links plants with art, is magic: for several centuries, different cultures and civilizations have attributed magic properties to some of them. Magic has been associated with art, recognising powers or the “enchanting” ability conceded to plants.
Photographies are inspired by Renaissance and Baroque paintings, on their visual aspect and symbology. There was a strong belief in those days that flowers have their own language and they were used to send secret messages through paintings, turning into hieroglyphics. “Growth” pauses plants and flowers’ life cycle under the premise that nature is beautiful itself and it pretends to chase their own prettiness using isolated still life.
About Alicia Lehmann
Alicia Lehmann was born in Madrid in 1999. Nowadays, she lives in Spain’s capital and she studies Photography at the University of Arts TAI. Her passion for photography started at a very young age and she keeps developing these days. She also writes short tales for a young public. She has made a solo exhibition in Madrid in 2017 and two collective exhibitions in the same town in 2018 and 2019, highlighting the 2018 exhibition for a project about violence against women. She has been one of the winners of #VersionaThyssen, an award offered by the Thyssen Museum, on its sixth edition. Also she was granted with CreaJoven Photography 2019 in Pozuelo (Madrid), and TAI BETWEEN THE WALLS 2020 Contest. Her inspirations on still life photography are Sharon Core, Wolfgang Tillmans and Geray Mena. She also does landscape photography, having as main references to Marie Sommer, Juan Millás and Elina Brotherus (as well as for her self-portraits). Another of her influences is literature, especially fantastic literature, always plenty of witches, magical potions, alive woods and very different kinds of plants. [Official Website]
