My Name is Jess and I’m the mind behind Dreaming of Flora. I’m a photographer, digital artist, a writer and a creative dabbler with esoteric leanings. I am a seeker as much as I am an observer. It’s how I learn and it’s how I grow.
I started Dreaming of Flora as an Instagram gallery in August of 2022. A way to reconnect to the loss of femininity I felt when I learned I needed to have a hysterectomy. Flowers, dreams in the dark, and poetry became my outlet and my peace for the anxiety and depression that came with both my treatment and the wait for what I knew was coming.
During this time, I lost someone close to me and through that grief, evolved my practices to include variations of vanitas and memento mori with the use of human and animal skulls and bones. While the animal skulls are real, the human ones are made by other humans in their own studio. A synthetic facsimile that in some ways is a perfect allegory for the human condition. The symbolism of the flowers I choose, often offer lessons on the subjects of transformation, rebirth, growth and love for myself and others. I try as often as I can to fill both cups.
I find inspiration everywhere. Both in the dark and in the light. In a time where we all want to feel special, it can be hard to know what parts are a self reflection and what pieces are shaped by others. I can only hope that what I find that spark of creativity in, can be molded into something that is uniquely my own and take a different shape than what it might have been before.
I hope that perhaps you can find some comfort and peace in my creativity too. Maybe you’ll be inspired to find your own outlet if you need it. That would be nice.
Love and Appreciation to those who cross this page.
May you find your own light in the dark.