EXCERPT FROM ORIGINlAL INTERVIEW:
Harryet Candee: When I look at the sculpture you have created for Broadway Blooms, I hear music. A symphonic force materializes. One that unravels and draws me in, and encouraging me to use all of my senses. What do you, as the creator of this series, imagine viewers to experience? What direct message are you sending forth to them?
Jon Isherwood: Interestingly, when I was first invited to consider installing sculpture along Broadway NYC, I took the subway up to 79th Street. Coming up out of the ground, I was immediately struck by the abundance of manicured plantings in the center medians of Broadway. The question was how could I compliment those manicured areas? Walking down to Lincoln center, I had this flash memory of attending a ballet performance there and seeing the bouquets of flowers that were thrown onto the stage at the end of the performance, how they landed on the stage randomly yet significant in the gesture. So, the questions and reflections developed from those initial thoughts and observations.
Flowers fascinate us in part because of their delicacy and ephemerality; by transposing their fragile forms into marble, the oldest and most durable of sculptural materials, I hoped to inspire viewers to pause and wonder at the productive tension generated by the delicate form and impermeable material. Like real flowers, my installation on Broadway was going to be ephemeral, but I hoped that my artistic offering to the city would be remembered long after the sculptures themselves moved on.
I hoped that the imagery would be accessible to the many people who navigate those intersections in their daily lives. Flowers are imbued with a universal symbolism and can create wonder and joy in their discovery. Placing them in a series of locations across neighborhoods, I hoped to promote a sense of interconnectedness in spaces that can otherwise feel impersonal, anonymous, and alienating. The natural forms were to offer a visual and psychological relief from the roads, traffic, and architecture in which they are situated – sites of beauty and respite from the built environment.
Why do we give flowers? The act can convey love, celebrate accomplishments, offer comfort in grief, repay hospitality, or simply beautify a space and bring personal joy. Beyond their universal appeal, flowers carry diverse cultural meanings: From the imbued spiritual symbolism of the lotus flower, to the holiday tradition of poinsettias, and the association of roses with love. Across time and space, flowers reflect one’s connection to community and to one another. Nature gifts us flowers, a spontaneous eruption of beauty that brings joy and wonder, and in return we offer them to one another. The exploration of the idea of the gift was central. The simple fact we all were working through a devastating pandemic also played a big role in the potential messaging and personal translations of the sculpture.
