Please note, pictured here is 20% of the overall installation—documenting in studio for scale and appreciation of the upcoming full installation.

RISE is an installation of over 1200 plates to be installed in the Marie Selby Botanic Gardens Lily Pond in June of 2027. RISE works to highlight the Selby Botanical Gardens’ institutional research and preservation efforts while simultaneously encouraging visitors to see a connection to art and art history in the plantings and live collections.

The ceramic installation is an artistic reflection of the historic symbolism and significance of water lilies and lotus in ceramic art history across cultures that is installed alongside actual lotus and water lily specimens. The juxtaposition of art that represents the plantings in the Lily Pond creates a visual bridge for the visitor, giving context for patterns and motifs from history that also act as signifiers of the importance and value of the water lily and lotus throughout time.

RISE reinterprets and recontextualizes global patterns and surfaces that represent lotus and water lilies on historic ceramic plates. The source imagery represents global patterns referencing the lotus, also known as a flowering aquatic lily. The lotus motif is broadly representative of abundance, fertility, and nature. The lotus also symbolizes powerful concepts such as creation, rebirth, eternity, and more. Each source image was chosen because of its use of stylized foliage and plants that resemble the water lily or lotus.