After a decade-long career working for some of Auckland’s most high end florists, Georgie Malyon began to design installations using fresh flowers and handcrafted skulls, capturing each finished sculpture in a fine art photograph. The resulting art prints are utterly beautiful, thought-provoking and impossible to ignore.
Tell us a bit about your ‘day job’ – you’re a floral stylist, is that right?
Yes, that’s a fancy word for a ‘bouquet flower making machine’ and wedding/function consultant. I wish I could tell you that it’s a romantic breeze, that I casually play with flowers all day but the reality is that working in a flower shop is hard work, standing for hours on end and lifting, plus drinking lots of coffee and eating a little too much cake… but I love it!
The girls I work with make it fun, we talk like sailors and we all suffer the same addiction to flowers, so I’m in good company!
Floral Artist Georgie Malyon
Could you describe the process you go through to create a finished piece – starting from getting the inspiration/idea?
What is in season will usually dictate what gets me inspired to make a print. The flowers will always point me in the direction of what colour to paint the back drop and skulls or which props to use; it never really happens the other way around.
I have always been obsessed with skulls and the slightly macabre. I have collected many unusual pieces ranging from vintage dolls and taxidermy to stacks of catholic vintage prints. This all sounds a little creepy and dark, but when combined with the lightness and prettiness of my love of beautiful flowers well… recently my work was described as ‘Goth-Lite’, which I thought was perfect!
The main concept behind the skull prints is based on the theory of Memento Mori which is Latin for ‘remember that you will die.’ Whilst this may sound morbid it is in fact quite the opposite. It’s a reminder to all, that we are only here for a short time, so live! Using the symbolism of flowers as new life and the skull as our mortality, its an idea that has been celebrated and used as artistic symbolism for centuries. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, just making it a little prettier.
What’s your favourite item in your studio/work space?
Boris the cat when he decides to join me and jump in my photos and try and help and also my little budgies Wayne and Bruce, they chirp along and keep me company!
Goth and gorgeous – Georgie’s desk
What are you working on (in terms of a new print or other creative projects) at the moment?
I am always making arrangements and taking photos. I created only a few prints with the skulls so I want to push that further. I have found that people respond very positively to the works and so I figure, why stop. To be honest I don’t think I will ever tire of it… skulls, flowers, colour and composition are all of my favourite things. I’m considering taking my designs and creating fabric or wallpaper. I’d love that to be the next direction for my work.
What’s your favourite item in your studio/work space?
Boris the cat when he decides to join me and jump in my photos and try and help and also my little budgies Wayne and Bruce, they chirp along and keep me company!
Georgie collects vintage ceramic birds, often using them in her art
Handcrafted skulls ready to be used in Georgie’s installations
More of Georgie’s unusual-yet-beautiful collections
A cabinet of curiosities – from vintage dolls to taxidermy.
Fave music to create by?
So the music ranges from Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, The XX ,Nirvana, Pixies, The Cramps, Siouxie and the Banshees, and Black Sabbath to name a few. Pretty much anything i can sing along to really.
Fave flower(s) to work with?
Every season there is a different reason and it depends on the project as to what flower will best suit the job. If you ask anyone I’ve ever worked with they’ll agree that I often proclaim, whilst holding a flower in the air, “this might just be my favourite flower!”
