ARTIST STATEMENT: When Tulips Die
Installation June 2002
Exhibition: Four Walls, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago IL
In the spring of 1999 I decided to have a love affair with tulips. I began riding my bicycle through the streets of Chicago, photographing passionately for the three lovely weeks of spring. I daydreamed, imaging each encounter was a moment of bliss and pleasure. It was so much fun.
The three weeks passed much to quickly. I found myself longing to visit Holland and experience the ecstasy of standing in fields of tulips. Three springs later I stood there, knee deep, in tulip heaven. I was in ecstasy!
I am not the first to have a love affair with tulips. In 1050 the tulips of Persia were venerated as symbols of perfect love and, perfect female beauty. One legend tells of a prince who heard falsely that his beloved had been killed. Stricken with grief he hacked his own body open with an axe. Blood dripping from his terrible wounds fell onto barren soil, and from each drop of blood a scarlet flower sprang, a symbol of his perfect, undying love.
In 1637, during the Tulipomania in the Netherlands, Tulip books were made to show speculative buyers what the tulip would look like. There are 43 still in existence. "When Tulips Die" is a result of this years', 2003, escapades and these images are dedicated to all those crazy people who LOVE tulips!
Shauna Angel Blue
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