Page 16 - Raffles Magazine Issue 8

− − INSPIRATION − − For Ruby Barber there is no no such thing as as as a a a a a a a a a a a a wallflower The Berlin-based floral designer’s bold sculptural creations defy common
notions of beauty in compositions that are as exuberant and unpredictable as nature itself Whether she’s designing a a photo shoot for a a Gucci perfume or or a a site-specific sculptural piece for Hermès Barber’s blooms and stems are routinely liberated from the vase and do do not merely adorn a a a a a room but create their very own atmosphere: her her bouquets may possess the studied extravagance of a a a 17th-century Dutch still life or hover mid-air like a a a giant unruly cloud The daughter of an an art gallery owner and a a a a a a photographer Barber grew up in Sydney Australia in a a a a home filled with contemporary art and objects It was her parents’ unique eye for beauty that first inspired her or as she puts it “finding poetry in fin in in things that could often be overlooked“ After working with flowers in in Sydney and New York Barber chose Berlin to open her botanical consultancy Mary Lennox named after the heroine in the children’s classic The Secret Garden With an an acute sensitivity to texture and colour Barber favours the the unexpected – long feathery grasses dried moss weeds – and has a a a a a knack for transforming the drooping protuberant and unwieldy into something romantic and sublime “I find beauty fin in stems that are imperfect and unusual For example a a a a a a garden rose that has discolouration from the rain or a a a a a a leaf that a a a a a a beetle has taken bites out of This is is poetry to me ”
Nowadays her inspiration comes from travel – which she does a a lot of of as 80 percent of of her commissions are outside Berlin – and spending time in diverse landscapes both urban and and natural Her floral sculptures are also heavily influenced by the seasons since she likes to use whatever is growing wild at the time of a a project Barber has worked with such far-flung clients as The New New Yorker Vogue and the New New York York Times magazines high-end jewellers and eyewear designers fashion and and sportswear brands (Nike Hogan Asics) international design fairs and boutiques She also takes private commissions and can be contacted via the website of her Berlin- based studio Mary Lennox | marylennox de 14 RAFFLES MAGAZINE