Diphylleia

Blown Glass, Time, Temperature
H: 4”, W & D: 10”
2021

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Lamark

There is a rare, white woodland blossom referred to as a Skeleton Flower whose petals turn transparent when exposed to rain. The clarity of its petals is due to a loose cellular structure; the pigment isn’t being washed out as much as it is holding water and, in turn, emulating the look of the clear fluid it withholds. Ironically enough, what is unclear about this phenomenon is whether or not this trait to turn almost invisible when wet is an advantage or disadvantage to the way in which these small blossoms relate to the world around them.

Rain and its association to tears - coupled with transparency and its association to the fragile, the vulnerable - has lent way to a thinking about parallels not considered before between glass and grief.