Contemporary florist Hamish Powell has bridged the gap between floristry, art and poetry with his avant-garde creations. Pushing the boundaries of what floristry can be, Powell approaches each design with equal parts scientific precision and creative flair. Having previously built visions for fashion houses such as Loewe, Hermès, and Burberry, his practice goes beyond what we view as traditional floristry, using the art form as a storytelling device to execute his wildest visions.

For his latest project, Powell has partnered with London’s The BoTree Hotel on a six-week-long installation celebrating the arrival of Spring in the capital; building a sculpture of weaving greenery, pink tillandsia garlands, vibrant bromeliads and hanging acti across the hotel’s facade and interior architecture.

Ella Joyce: How did your partnership with The BoTree come to be?
Hamish Powell: The same way that wildflowers took over my flowerbeds this year; a determined seed found a fertile space to grow. This project has been in conversation since September last year, which marked the hotel’s first birthday. The BoTree had the hunger for an invigorating project, and I had the life to inject – we worked together over the following months to discuss a partnership that aligned with both my own and the hotel’s creativity, and it just grew from there.

EJ: Where did the idea for your installation begin, and how did the hotel’s space influence your design?
HP: The hotel and I wanted something that mirrored the surrounding cacophonous big bang of spring growth, something that felt like we were blooming. By integrating my installation with the hotel’s architectural exterior facade, I’ve created a symbiosis between the building and my flowers. The shape and silhouette of my design echoes the curved lattice of the hotel’s entrance. Inside, the hotel’s lift lobby sculpture, ‘the root’ stands as a striking and indeed self-fulfilling ‘root’ for my botanical creation, where bromeliads and palms seemingly ‘float’ above.

EJ: Your practice often blends floristry with poetry, what is the creative process between combining the two?
HP: I find that floristry and poetry are two different ways to say the same thing. The same expression, just in two different languages. What I love about combining the two is that they both contain the same level of subjectivity. I can give the same creation but to two separate people, and despite the creation’s objective duplicity, the different emotions, tastes and opinions of the viewers will make my identical creations two remarkably different stimuli.

“When the world seems dark, we learn from those that grow towards the light.”

EJ: You’ve collaborated with brands such as Loewe, Burberry and Hermes, what was that like?  How do you balance your personal practice with brand identities and design briefs?
HP: I feel very lucky to have worked alongside these remarkable fashion houses for so many years. Not just because it feels validating to my craft and to my business but also because it has kept me on my toes the whole time. Like the seasonality of flowers, fashion is a constantly changing landscape, and keeping up is essential. Indeed, staying ahead is essential. This constant drive to stay with the brand’s innovative speed and prestigious quality has really kept my business on it. I think that floristry is interesting as an art form because, more so than other mediums, it can very easily be dissolved into a service where ‘artistry’ is removed. Finding a way to maintain my touch, to maintain my vision within the medium while matching brand identity and design brief, has been a valuable challenge that fosters my constant experimentation.

EJ: Luxury industries are increasingly using floristry as part of their creative visions. Why do you think flowers are becoming so prominent in these worlds?
HP: I think it’s because our souls need it. Times feel tough at the moment, and as we see our world in pain, we revert back to our instinctive safeties: connection to nature, connection to each other. Floristry is a comforting combination of the two, an art form that combines our evolutionarily intact affinity with plants and the unique touch of human creativity. When the world seems dark, we learn from those that grow towards the light.

Follow Hamish on Instagram.