I shall survive you by Kate Rutter

The title of this multimedia show is taken from a book of Victorian floriography, the symbolic language of flowers. Floriography is an ancient cryptological practice reflecting the psychic life of flowers to communicate emotions to their viewers. Flowers, like symbols, point to something beyond themselves, an emotional depth of reality unseen, but felt in the universal experiences of love and loss. In “I shall not survive you,” Kate Rutter’s floral installations create portals into the artist’s personal history; at first thrown into the woes of pregnancy, the artist finds resilience as a single mother, and reprieve, joy, and healing through communion with flowers.

While these works carry the rhythms of travel and longing, the blossoming and dissolution of romantic love, and the transience of her son’s father, this show intends to uplift and transform. Rutter’s collages and floral pieces inform each other; while collage is fragmentary in nature, each floral work attempts to capture and totally heal a distinct emotion experienced in her spiritual journey into motherhood.
The brevity of this show is intentional. In this week-long experience of impermanence, each bloom will peak in its beauty and vitality, and then fade into a new form. Rutter’s use of an organic material allows for a transfer of energy and healing from one life to another.

Each installation holds an event / We invite you to be present as a witness / To bloom, to wilt, to heal / And then dispersal

This exhibition is organized by KINK Contemporary.

 MEET THE ARTIST

“I call myself an intuitive florist because flowers provide a gateway to reconnect with our inner compass through grace and compassion. When I work with flowers, I act as a channel, receiving guidance from the blooms about the recipients of my arrangements and their emotional needs. Flowers provide a symbiotic energetic exchange. When we go to nature or take in the beauty of flowers through smell, color, texture or taste, our vibration is naturally lifted away from heavier feelings like shame or guilt into lighter emotions such as joy, peace, and gratitude.”

-Kate Rutter

Kate Rutter

Kate Rutter is an intuitive florist, multidisciplinary fine artist, and mother based in Cleveland, OH. She received her BFA from Kent State University. Her current practice is a culmination of a life spent in art and design, working with diverse mediums such as photography, jewelry, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, collage, and floristry. Kate’s interest in floristry began in the Pacific Northwest, where she undertook an floral apprenticeship as well as cultivated her healing practices through flower essences and herbal medicine. Kate has worked as a creative director, artist, stylist, hairstylist, and now is the force behind her successful floral company.

Photograph by Milkshop Photo

“My practice is built on the belief that flowers heal. When I was pregnant with my son, I was so hypervigilant in wanting to protect him from the heartbreak I was experiencing. Our feelings have distinct vibrational frequencies, and I kept thinking, ‘I can’t imprint this onto him.’ But synchronicities kept drawing flowers into my life. My floral practice not only enabled me to be at home with him, but they have imprinted our home and our lives with beauty and lightness. Beauty creates more lightness, which creates more beauty.”

-Kate Rutter