‘A vintage yet modern aesthetic that is quietly inviting and elegantly balanced’.
Leesa works with paper to make flower-related creations which include store decorations, installations, decorative items for the home, limited edition fashion pieces and one-off exhibition works.
Leesa’s meticulous creative process starts with growing the flowers in her own garden. Then, when they are flowering, she cuts big bunches which are placed in the studio and creates paper templates for each part of the plant. From here, the templates are delicately traced onto paper, followed by cutting the paper precisely using small scissors. The layering process then starts - some flowers have as many as 70 separate pieces of paper.
Leesa has been growing flowers on her farm for the past 10 years: “my rural surroundings really inspire my work”. The flowers she grows change from season-to-season and the glorious colours and intricate details of her favourite blooms enable spectacular creations. She likes to think of her creations as a ‘portable garden’.
Leesa believes that flowers inspire us to slow down, give a sense of peace and beauty and that every sentiment imaginable can be expressed through flowers. Red roses symbolise love, orchids: beauty, the zinnia flower: thoughts of friends, endurance & lasting affection and the cosmos flower: order, harmony & balance.
Leesa Cowan is an Australian textile artist living and working on Wadawurrung country near Geelong, Victoria.
We acknowledge the Traditional owners of the lands on which we work and gather and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
