Smell the Roses
Social Media performance + Print + Jewellery Objects
Diana Anastasia Inmaculada
”Smell the roses”, April 2020
220cm x 220cm
Giclée Print
Smell the Roses was one of my 2020 lockdown projects. It included a social media performance, prints, t shirts, and precious jewellery art objects.
EXPLORATION OF A SOLITARY EXILE IN IBIZA THROUGH WILD FLOWERS AND WITHIN A FUTURE SETTING OF RETURN OF LIFE IN SMALL GROUPS AND VIRTUAL ADAPTATION
“Smell the roses” is an account of my isolation in the island of Ibiza, marked by the sea, the rural countryside and the sightings of wild flowers within the limited perimeter of time and space imposed by the lockdown.
An exercise through social media, I published self portraits and photographs of landscapes at sunrise every morning for the length of the lockdown.
Letter to
15 March 2020
I happened to have a flight booked to Ibiza (where I am from) the day that the lockdown started in Spain. I was only meant to be away for one week, but I came to a halt when my return flight to London got cancelled, and all subsequent flights since. I had a phone and a suitcase and a very sunny rooftop. Only after two weeks we were allowed to leave the house between the hours of 6-10am, and only up to 1km distance away from our front doors. I’m usually a night owl. My grandma had just died. I, like many others, got very sick. This period changed everything.
I did my best to savour the creative privilege that is having limitations.
A manifesto was born, a line of jewellery was created, as well as a EP.
“Smell the Roses” expresses my transformation.
The film clips, photographs and music describe the awe and joy of discovering “the outside” for the first time, and focus on the little pleasures. Introspective but colourful, they are marked by the wild flowers that I found by the road, and the sounds of the wind over the mediterranean coast. A moment within this limited perimeter of time and space. It was experiential because what found could not be planned.
The setting allowed me an unprecedented view of the island, away from the distractions of East London. I’d been plunged into a paradox: A life in a small local community, yet only able to communicate with my friends and family over Zoom. This strange coexistence of the traditional and the futuristic was the spine of my clips.
Being a pop artist, my plan is to be contemplative but also vibrant- flowers feature aplenty in my art, as does music and vibrant colour. As much as I was in seclusion, I was also in expansion, and the dynamism in my films reflect that.