Vicki Katthagen, Lucidia (ART & CONCEPTUAL 2026)

Lucidia begins with removal. Colour is stripped away, taking with it one of the most immediate ways we recognise and understand a flower. What remains is structure: veins, folds, edges, shadows and lines that seem to move beyond the botanical and into something more familiar. Something bodily. Something remembered. Proximity shifts the flower away from its literal identity. Careful tonal control and reduction to monochrome allow details to surface that might otherwise disappear. Fragility sits beside strength; softness against structure; the familiar begins to become abstract. Colour disappears so structure can speak. We instinctively search nature for something of ourselves. We recognise forms, feelings and memories without necessarily understanding why. Lucidia does not ask to be identified as a flower. It asks for a slower kind of looking, where meaning is carried through what the viewer remembers, feels and brings with them.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.