If you’ve ever looked carefully at a flower, you know that each type has its own unique form and intricate petal patterns.
New York-based artist Owen Mann celebrates the diverse beauty of nature with his realistic clay flowers and succulents. Each piece can either lay flat or be used as a unique wall hanging, allowing you to have a little piece of nature that will last forever.
The self-taught sculptor made his first clay flower (a red and white rose) for his mother when he was just 10 years old, but he didn’t re-visit the craft until he was in his mid-20s. Today, Mann has created over 1,000 clay flowers that immortalize a variety of species.
From peonies to dahlias, each piece captures the fragility of silk-like petals and the mesmerizing, spiraling patterns they form.
Mann often photographs his pieces in his own hands, revealing their lifelike - and sometimes larger-than-life - size. While some pieces are left uncoated to highlight the elegant quality of porcelain, others are finished with colorful glazes that bring them to life.
Many pieces appear so realistic that they look as though they’ve just been plucked from the artist’s own colorful garden.
“Each flower is different and I won’t ever stop making them,” says Mann.
“After all, the world can always use more flowers.”
My Modern Met
