Pushing the boundaries of floristry

Hattie Molly is a Melbourne-based floral artist challenging traditional flower arranging to fuse art, sculpture and design. Like Hattie, I grew up amongst the flowers. Over my life, my mother has carefully curated English styled gardens mixed with native New Zealand elements. My fondest memories as a child are busying myself in the garden picking, pairing and creating bouquets from anything I could find.

Hattie mixes colour, texture and architecturally inspired forms, juxtaposing orchids with carnivorous plants in her minimalist floral creations. She likes to celebrate imperfection and not only sees beauty in a speckled petal or bent stem, but deliberately includes something that looks a little flawed or odd in all she does.

Beautiful flowers can be like food that’s too sickly sweet – it lacks a bit of acidity or something to cut through it. And that’s what I always try to incorporate in my work – something unusual that cuts through all the sweetness.”