פרויקט הגמר של ציפי קוק

About me:

My name is Tzippy Cook.
I have been working in the event floral design industry for a few years as was my childhood dream.
I made Aliyah to Israel Just as I married my husband by myself with no family.
Trying to fit in and find my place has taken me on an interesting journey.
I still get to work in my dream job but now I'm also always looking for new ways to bring something more interesting and artistic to a bombarded industry.

My Project Concept
I have based my project on the feeling that accompanies many, the feeling of being alone.
Going through life and trying to figure it out, with all that it has to offer and how it built me as a person.
My project shows how the aloneness can make me feel tangled and blocked in, lacking strength, passion and motivation.
This is shown clearly by the barbed wire dark colours and flowers that are sharp edged, lacking life and closed.
I also show what being alone can build. It has built in me my sense of purpose, a motivation to stand out and be proud to be different. It has taught me to trust my intuition, understand my uniqueness and be immensely joyful and colourful.
It has given me my Centre.
These emotions are shown by the roots of the flowers that like me are grounded and cannot be swayed.
It is shown by the unique flowers and colourfulness of them.
It is shown by the big strong bark that stands tall and proud. It is shown by the growth of flowers and the growth that one does within.
All of this was chosen with purpose.
I wanted to reflect my journey, one that I'm still on and maybe someone can identify with it.

All the colours and flowers I chose were all to bring my point across.
The dark flowers show the depression and sadness that can accompany feeling alone.
The sharp succulents to show how painful the feeling can be.
The dried flowers to show the lack of motivation and withering the feelings can be.
The barbed wire to show how choking the feeling can be and how it feels like there is no way out.
But on the other side (the more positive side;)
The tree bark that stands tall and acts as a barrier which shows carrying myself proud and not letting the world in to cut me down. It shows Strength, peace and a staticness that comes from understanding your place.
The beautiful orchids show how each part is so unique and beautiful in its individuality, so colorful and breathtaking, that when one is uniquely oneself they are beautiful, unique and special.
The moss reminded me of grass and spring, a newness and a chance to grow and thrive.
The Roots were left in especially to represent strength and staying rooted and grounded, unapologetically taking up space.
All the small flowers that represent growth.

The techniques I used to build my construction:
To lay down the bark and barbed wire I hammered into my wooden base metal wire and then hammered on the bark and tied the barbed wire to the metal wire.
The legs I made by wrapping 18 wires together, separating them on top into 2 halves so that they can hold up the construction and then into 3 legs so that they can stand. I then wrapped them with raffia to make it look nicer.
I attached the flowers with cold botanical glue or attached tubes to the construction, filled with water and placed my flowers inside.

What did I gain from this course:
First and foremost I have come to understand how to use flowers as an art form. Flowers don't just need to look good and unique on a table or event setting, they are and can be made into a piece of art just like any other.
Flowers can be used to evoke emotion and create understanding of another human psyche. It can be used to create messages and connect people.
Another lesson I have learnt is how to take from nature to create. To use what I have around me, to open my imagination to my surroundings. This creates two things; one is economically we are not spending money, two the more you imagine and create from things you have around you the more you see opportunity and beauty in those things.
But mainly I learnt that I have the ability to create something beautiful and artistic from all of these things with the help of some interesting techniques. Sometimes I want to create and I don't know how, but now I have some more techniques and tools that lead to endless opportunities to try and create more and release more imagination.