Emily Thompson, Wagner Kreusch, Frida Kim, Françoise Ozawa & John Lim of This Humid House will be in conversation with Shane Connolly at the Garden Museum in the week of the Chelsea Flower Show.
All are playing a part in The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 where their radical floral installations showcase the future of floral design.
These artists are connected by a shared commitment to the natural world, and are led by nature to create designs that embrace the sometimes chaotic, aggressive and subtle aspects of the living world, turning the flower vase on its head. Still, they are rooted in the great traditions of floristry.
Hear them discuss their work, the exhilaration and challenge of the medium, and their aesthetic connections with one another, and be inspired.
Emily Thompson will also be discussing her new book, published in April, and signing copies after the talk.
Speakers
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Françoise Ozawa & John Lim - This Humid House
Françoise Ozawa & John Lim - This Humid House
This Humid House (THH) is a botanical design studio founded in Singapore comprised of designers committed to developing a language expressed through plants and flowers that is sensitive to climate, geography, culture, and the contemporary. THH is a new model for a design studio that, at its broadest definition, works with “living media”— plant-based material that is living or was once living. They are interested in understanding the symbolism and meaning of plants and flowers have in human history, religious rituals, and secular life.
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Frida Kim
Frida Kim
Rooted in Frida Kim's earliest years spent amidst the unspoiled beauty of the Korean countryside, her ethereal floral arrangements reflect a profound reverence for nature. Whether crafting a sculptural installation or a petite arrangement, Frida approaches each task with a singular intention: to create art that resonates with people and weaves a narrative.
Infusing the essence of Ikebana into her craft, Frida's creations unfurl with a subtle refinement, veiling within them intricate layers of poetic complexity. Central to her creations is a commitment to seasonality and sustainability, merging Eastern and Western sensibilities to convey a compelling visual message through delicate combinations of fresh and dried materials.
For Frida, her creations are a non-verbal form of communication, an avenue to evoke emotions and impart meaningful ideas. Grounded in her belief in the distinct voice of each flower, she embraces the imperfections that echo the nuances of life itself. Sharing her passion through teaching has become an integral and treasured part of her journey, as she inspires fellow florists to embrace bravery and authenticity in their floral pursuits.
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Wagner Kreusch
Wagner Kreusch
Kreusch’s commitment to a more sustainable practice within floristry is deeply linked to his understanding of the medium as both an art form as well as an expression of culture. Kreusch studied at the renowned SOGETSU SCHOOL OF IKEBANA under the supervision of the late Ikebana master and former director of Sogetsu London, Mr Shigeo Suga. Kreusch is a certified Sogetsu teacher simultaneously practicing and teaching the art form today.
Born in Brazil and best known for his long career dedicated to teaching floristry, his graphic and sculptural work is highly inspired by contemporary Ikebana. The son of a florist and having spent his youth in the countryside, Kreusch had the unique chance to experience untouched natural environments that are now in constant threat in his native country.
Having co-founded the world-renowned LONDON FLOWER SCHOOL in 2017 Kreusch's focus as Creative Director was to bring awareness to floristry as an art form and to use his voice as a teacher to serve the industry that he is so passionate about. Within the last year Kreusch took the opportunity to be fully immersed in the garden, embarking on a new journey to develop his art practice bringing to the foreground consciousness around the profession of floristry in the hope that more people can experience its powerful healing qualities as well as highlighting awareness of the fragility of our natural environments. -
Emily Thompson
Emily Thompson
Emily Thompson was raised in the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont, a place of uncompromising beauty. She brought her sense of this place, its ruins and its wilds, to her work as an artist, traveling from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania, to UCLA, where she earned her MFA in sculpture, finally landing in New York City. Here, she fell in with a rough crowd of thorny brambles and made it her mission to bring them to light. Emily likes to cite William Gilpin, 18th century theorist of the picturesque, who directed builders of follies and artificial ruins to do so as if these ruins were not designed but naturally chosen. What’s more, writes Gilpin, they must be in magnificent style. Emily’s work, like her ideal faux ruin, evokes nature in magnificent style.