Weeds are the unsung characters in urban environments, sprouting from cracks in pavements and walls. In the obscure nooks and corners of Block 261 in Waterloo Street, there are little flowers, plants and weeds growing — attesting to an understated but vibrant ecology coexisting with human architecture.

Wild Flowers is a new work by Robert Zhao, depicting these tiny but hardy vegetative denizens (some as small as 2cm in height) in a series of lightboxes. On one side of each lightbox, a taxonomic photograph shows these minute specimens magnified over thousands of times, allowing viewers to appreciate the complexity of their design. The other side of the lightbox will be painted a shade of green that is taken from the plant, providing an intense and amplified aesthetic encounter with their hues.


Image courtesy of the artist and ShanghART Gallery.

Artists: Robert Zhao