The artwork features a vibrant and captivating close-up of a blooming hibiscus flower. The composition is dominated by the delicate petals, which are rendered in a soft, pastel palette of pink, orange, and yellow hues. The intricate details of the stamen and pistil are highlighted, showcasing the intricate natural patterns and structures of the flower. The overall style is visually striking, with a surreal and dreamlike quality achieved through the use of bold colors and a slightly out-of-focus, ethereal quality. The artist's intention appears to be capturing the beauty and essence of this tropical flower in a contemporary, artistic manner. ...
Tom Allen is a painter who frequently draws inspiration from the natural world. Rather than depicting exotic flora as inanimate objects in still-life portraits, he tries to capture a sense of vitality, drawing inspiration from the flourishing period of plants. This approach alters the relationship between the painter and the subject, as a still life demands concentrated attention on the object's reality, while portraiture involves the rendering of the sitter's likeness as well as their characterisation. In his painting, some of the floral subjects are encountered during Allen's walks around his neighborhood in Los Angeles, while others are found during his travels. He emulates their likeness through photographs taken on his phone, but in the studio, his skill, palette, and knowledge of art history give birth to a personality that belongs neither to the painter nor to his subject. This creates a distinct ontology of painting that resides in a realm of vision that is inaccessible to both photography and the human eye. Allen's paintings are captivating, and the way he captures the darkened blush of a rose or the depth of a bunch of pistils on a bloom reveals a world beyond our own. ...
