The Mystery in the Garden



















Living in a high-rise apartment or a house with a small yard comes with the disadvantage of not having access to garden space. Fortunately, fine wallpaper manufacturer Astek has a way to bring beautiful blooms indoors. The company’s collection of dreamy floral mural designs called Eterna Nouveau reinterprets the Art Nouveau movement of the early 20th century, which historically flourished in Europe and emphasized nature-inspired motifs like flowers and birds.
Eterna Nouveau’s arching, sinuous stems and leaves nod to its namesake style’s characteristic “whiplash” lines. “Aquavita,” for example, features lilies and other water plants and illustrates life both above and below the surface. And “Carnivoria” celebrates more unusual plants, like Venus flytraps. A variety of colorways emphasizes the designs’ bold forms and delicate metallic outlines.

The motifs were first created by hand, then digitized so that they can be sized up or down to fit custom spaces. Printed to order, the colors and shapes can even be customized for special projects. See more on Astek’s Instagram.







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Throughout Southeast Asia, nymph-like, shape-shifting deities associated with clouds and water known as apsaras are commonly depicted in sculptures and other artworks dating back millennia. For San Francisco-based artist Anoushka Mirchandani, who was born in India, these mythological beings are the spirits, so to speak, of vibrant oil paintings.
Tapping into family memories and her upbringing influenced by South Asian cultural traditions, Mirchandani explores mythology and perception. Her current solo exhibition, My Body Was A River Once at ICA San José, explores the tradition of the apsara through a lens of timelessness, femininity, and biophilia. Curated by Zoë Latzer, the show emphasizes the dynamic between power and vulnerability, exemplified by Mirchandani’s approach to the figures’ presence and ease amid the unpredictability of nature.

As a child, Mirchandani observed apsaras in the ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta and Ellora. “These water-women are beings of transformation, embodying sensuality, cosmic energy, and the transmission of matrilineal knowledge,” says an exhibition statement.
In the paintings, figures are at one with their surroundings, virtually faceless with the exception of shadows that suggest lips and noses. The outlines of their bodies merge with tropical plants, moss, boulders, and flowing streams, and their flesh is partly transparent. Additionally, the underpainting of each work comprises a terracotta red, inspired by the clay-rich soil of the Indian states of Goa and Maharashtra. Starting with this earthy pigment literally grounds Mirchandani’s compositions in a sense of home and belonging.
My Body Was A River Once continues through August 23. See more on Mirchandani’s Instagram.







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David Morrison continues his hyperrealistic explorations of flowers, seeds, and plants, capturing the intricacies and alluring textures found throughout nature in lush colored pencil. Delicate, fine lines and smooth gradients prevail in the artist’s drawings, which present the organic subject matter as if it were bathed in light. Rendered in a soft haze, shadows of individual fronds and nodes add a deceptive sense of depth to the two-dimensional works.
The pieces shown here are some of Morrison’s latest, and you can find more on his Instagram and via Garvey | Simon, where he’s represented.






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