Memento mori

On a walk at a nearby lake, I came across these two baby birds, that had fallen from their nest. Somewhat preserved by the cold, they were likely siblings that never had a chance at life. I thought it would be honouring to preserve their lesson in the most beautiful way I could.

I selected some florals, to represent the temporary nature of beauty and life. I wanted to create a concept on appreciating the time we have. We are all ‘haunted’ by the the inevitability of passing and sometimes it’s easy to forget to make the most of our time and appreciate the beauty surrounding us.

I placed the arrangement in water, as a nod to the bird’s original environment, a place they never got to explore. Water is also shrouded in mystery, symbolising the depths of the unknown. As the bird’s decay spread into the water, their tiny fragments began to look like stars in the night sky and to me this was a powerful reference to the cycle of life. As we physically return to the earth when we pass, many of us may question if anything beyond our body remains.

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