“History happens as it’s being made.”

In this work, constructed from British broadsheets and tabloids, Kate Lewis combines the concept of memento mori, vanitas still life, and floriography (language of flowers) to remind the viewer of the weight of our shared experience during this era-defining and tumultuous time. The slow, meditative, months-long nature of collage allowed the time to process the events, emotionally, even as the stories themselves grew and changed in ways that were unplanned and unexpected. During this time, when mass gatherings were banned, the act of making flowers became its own powerful form of celebration, protest, and mourning.

The temporal nature of the flower reminds us of the fragility of life, but also of all that is beautiful. The choice of material, newsprint, is limiting and primitive, but also readily available to all. And the stories—contradictory, evolving—become finite as their words are committed to press.

“The removal of choice.”

This wreath is not simply a metaphorical representation of the 2nd lockdown, it is a physical manifestation of it. Winter presents limited flower options under normal circumstances, but this year, it was further compounded by a lockdown forcing the closure of florists and non-essential stores to customers.

“The circular nature of life.”

The wreath also represents the closing of a circle: a full year of a pandemic, the full realisation of Brexit, the end of the Trump presidency. But it also represents the gentle slope into new beginnings: the hope of the new vaccines, the coming together of communities to support each other, the inauguration of Joe Biden.

With close examination, the interconnectedness—the push-pull of parallel events—reveals itself: The storming of the US Capitol building days before the history-making inauguration of the first female US Vice President. The Perseverance Rover lands on Mars just as a meteorite, “nugget of space," lands on a driveway in the Cotswolds. Prince Harry and Megan give a bombshell interview to Oprah, Prince Philip dies. The UK reaches a tragic milestone, 126,000 deaths from Covid, an organist plays in Salisbury cathedral as the first vaccine jabs are administered.

This wreath—created in the early months of this year— is a memorial to all the lives lost and all the potential for what is to come. It represents the beautiful and the ugly, the planned and the unexpected, control and the uncontrolled.

Flowers/Stories in summary

Large rose/leaves/stem: “Return to Lockdown”

Reflections on the one-year anniversary. A terrible milestone: 126,00 deaths.

Winter-blooming jasmine: Newly elected President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech (in its entirety) encircles the wreath, holding it in unity, literally and symbolically.

Winter poppy: “Anarchy” defines this flower. The storming of the US Senate by Trump supporters in January.

Ranunculus: Sir Tom Moore, who inspired so much hope with the first lockdown, dies.

Pink Poppy: The UK budget, in FT pink

Anemone: Elon Musk mentions Bitcoin on the Clubhouse chat app, price spikes

Blue leaves: Dog nappers exploit pandemic demand for pets

Anemone: The Indian farm protests

Blossom spike: The UK daily death poll at its peak

Daffodil/blue leaf: Mary Wilson of The Supremes has died

Purple genista/rose with red royal crest: Harry and Megan’s interview with Oprah; the Palace response

Winter poppy: Excerpts of Amanda Gorman’s inspiring inauguration poem appear in a poppy.

Daffodil : “No ifs, no butties” A Brexit story about ham sandwiches being confiscated from lorry drivers by Dutch customs.

Purple rose: The death of Prince Philip

Genista and daffodil:  The daffodil and genista tell of Kamala Harris’s history-making inauguration as the first woman (and woman of colour) to be elected Vice President of the United States.

Leaves: “Roar heard around the world” — Rachel Blackmore makes history as the first woman to win The Grand National, taken from the pages of the Racing Post

Black and purple anemone: The queen of the ravens goes missing from the Tower of London

Daffodil: Sea shanties make a high-tech return among Tik Tok followers

Rose leaves: "Together until the end” The tragic love story of a couple who died within days of each other in the same Covid ward in Manchester.

Blossom stem: “Life is beautiful. Take the vaccine.” Pointing upward, the vaccine rollout opens with this quote among the young blooms and includes the story of the organist at Salisbury Cathedral playing while the public got their jabs there.

Pink ranunculus: FT story about teams of volunteers helping, giving service, together

Ranunculus: Max the Springer Spaniel, who lifted people’s spirits during lockdown, is awarded an OBE

Ranunculus and Genista: Sarah Everhard is remembered, a vigil is fraught with police violence, Bristol erupts

Ranunculus: A meteorite lands in the Cotswolds

Anemone: “Fortress Britain” UK borders are shut

Genista: Protests for the release of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny

Ranunculus: Riots in Myanmar, the shooting of protesters

Leaves: After 70 years, the former Mr Potato Head becomes gender-neutral

Tiny daffodil: The effect of pesticides on bees

Jasmin: British bee trader attempts to import bees post-Brexit leading to their sad destruction

Stem: A confused arctic walrus makes himself a new home in the UK

Blue Clematis: Amid the leaves and blooms, we are reminded of Jackie Weaver’s memorable zoom appearance.

Tiny narcissus: Trump’s second impeachment

Text by Sloane Warren