Painted welded steel, 2002.
A bouquet is the commonest gift of flowers, and this one is drawn in line. A thin olive hoop arches over the group. An orange-red ribbon curls out to the left and ends in a hooked tip with a small hole, and a dark red ribbon loops out to the right. A pink stalk rises from a white cup at the center and ends in a green trumpet that is turquoise inside, the one open bloom in the arrangement. No petals appear. The flowers are all gesture: a curl, a loop, a mouth turned out toward the viewer.
Cut flowers last a few days. This bouquet is steel and keeps its colors. The cup stands on a small brown plate with a dark ball beside it, and under the plate a black band cut with a row of elongated openings runs like a runner under a vase. The setting is a table, and the arrangement is displayed on it.
The title is a dedication: flowers for someone, named by initials. A gift passes between two people, and the viewer is outside the exchange, looking at the bouquet with its ribbons loose and its one bloom open.
