Britt Salvesen, co-curator of a retrospective that opened recently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum, noted that Mapplethorpe liked to play with the idea of flower eroticism and its association with lushness and vitality and its association with the transience of life.

I’m not sure that Robert Mapplethorpe gave as much in-depth thought to the images he created as Britt asserts.  By selling the public images of flowers, Robert Mapplethorpe gave people images that they could hang on walls without being, or feeling, uptight.

I take photos of flowers that grow in my yard and garden for the simple pleasure of knowing that in sharing the image, a greater joy will be unleashed in each individual that views it.  And I’d like to think that Robert approves of my mission: I want my art to be a joy that heals.

© 2016 Theresa Mae Funk, all rights reserved.