A living ceiling of flowers and foliage is the flourishing expression of florist Simone Gooch’s elemental calling.
Into the cosy kitchen of Simone Gooch, a stranger has come calling. Curling up the wall and creeping across the ceiling, nudging into nooks and flowering out of pots, a vigorous assortment of fresh, captivating floral and plant life has made itself resident in the sought-after florist’s modest Sydney apartment.
The beguiling canopy is the brainchild of artist and florist Lisa Cooper and photographer Harold David, who are shooting a series of elaborate installations around Australia in an endeavour to capture the essence of people’s art. “Simone does very elemental flower work; she teases out each beautiful detail,” says Cooper. “You have to really look into the flowers to see what is going on.”
The floral artistry at which Gooch excels has broken its bonds and run free across the domestic terrain with bacchanalian triumph. Cooper hooked a wire through a wicker chair to train the flowers – black cabbage, ivy, Camellia sasanqua and ornamental grapevines bought at the markets that morning – up the wall and on to the ceiling. Hydrangeas and trays of herbs on the counter, oxheart tomatoes on the kitchen table and orchids and a bowl of crab-apples atop brick shelving form a Caravaggio-esque still life.
In the bedroom, camellia branches line the walls in rustling synchronicity. “It was like a fantasy land, emphasising and exaggerating the experience of having flowers in your home,” says Gooch, who has left the kitchen’s wire structure in place for future flights of fancy. Adds Cooper: “We wanted the scene to look enchanted. The idea was to make visual what goes on in Simone’s head and in her heart.”
Visit doctorcooper.com.au or learn more about Simone Gooch at fjura.com.
Text: Lisa Thomas
Producer/stylist: Lisa Cooper
Photographs: Harold David
