Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the third Botanicals show for the month of June 2022. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, colored pencil, gouache, photography, digital). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 150 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: USA, Panama, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Germany, China, Italy, Spain and Hong Kong. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

Galea II - With this piece I wanted to evoke the feeling of a culture gone fallow, a once mighty civilization that has long been buried and lost to time that is sprouting again and turning into something new. I layered multiple patinas on the bronze helmet to give it the look of something which has been buried for centuries. I lined the interior of the helmet with moss to provide texture contrast and to give the feeling of nature attempting to reclaim technology and of the constant ability of life to adapt. In the top portion where the brush would sit I’ve placed dried eucalyptus, once again to provide textural interest and to give the feeling of something still struggling to grow or survive. Last Breath of Joy - This piece deals with themes of isolation, danger, and a desire to cling to something precious from the past. I wanted to ask the question what are you left with when the world falls apart? Can you truly be happy despite your circumstances? I was inspired to make this piece by my own anxiety and depression during the pandemic and the slow climb out of it. I used an old fashioned gas mask to evoke the idea of the pandemic and being surrounded by danger. The hose running down to the container with the rose gives the feeling of a person drawing life from the one thing of beauty they have left.

I enjoy taking multiple photos of a flower to record different stages of its withering process. Each person has unique facial features, minor imperfections and traces of aging, therefore using portrait to preserve a certain moment of him is essential. Showing unique flaws of each flower is like capturing a model’s subtle expressions. It adds vitality and personalities to them. The color spots on those slowly drying out petals are visualized evidence of the intangible concept of time. I found fresh buds, flowers in full blossom, flowers that are withering and already dried out flowers co-exist in the same place, creating this mysterious narrative space that visualizes an overlapping status of different life moments of the same object.

Stephan Crawford is an interdisciplinary artist based in San Francisco, California. His work defies any single stylistic classification, and includes sculpture, mixed-media, painting, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. In his art practice he explores nodal points of intersection or branching that open the opportunity for new insight into our world and our place in it. This might relate to something as apparently simple as the interface between the land and the sea, or as apparently impenetrable as the duality of the physical and the metaphysical. These points may be readily found where apparently dissimilar spaces, disciplines or ideas collide, such as, broadly, science and art. In 2015 as part of his studio practice he founded ClimateMusic.org, an internationally recognized cross-disciplinary collaborative that connects people to climate science and action through music and that has reached many thousands of people around the world. This work has received extensive international media coverage, including profiles in The New York Times and by the BBC. In 2019 Crawford was profiled by Yamaha for its Inspired series. Feuerform, the work presented here, is part of a series of sculptures depicting the classical elements in abstract life form. In representing the element fire, this piece takes its inspiration from the form of an abstract flower, which receives its life-giving energy directly from the sun (fire), and also resembles a flame.

I love walking through the woods searching for a glimpse of nature consisting of a little something extra, what I call ‘a purple leaf’ or inspiration, for my natural still life colored pencil artworks. I am fascinated by natural objects composed by nature, time, and conditions that reveal this uniquely beautiful but seldom noticed natural world. The aesthetic beauty of leaves, diverse in types, shapes and colors, combined with elements of earth, water and stone, are my purple leaf and the reason I look forward to discovering nature with each and every step forward. Frank Lloyd Wright said it best: “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” While the foliage of woodland trees keeps me returning to the natural world, it’s the beautiful organic lines, the rich earth colors, the dramatic lighting, and the interesting textures that keep me there. I love to hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the smell of rich moist soil, and an overall feeling of tranquility while walking through the woods. Nature does not stand still but I strive to capture the special moments of beauty, of absolute wonder, and serenity of nature in my still life artworks.