mourning flowers

Pop-up Installation at The International Spontaneous Memorial Conference

University of Manchester, UK

June 12-13, 2025

The International Spontaneous Memorial Conference aims to explore sociocultural, psychological, curatorial, digital and research methodology dimensions of spontaneous memorials. In particular, it examines the impact that spontaneous memorials have on individuals, communities, organisations and societies. The conference is funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) .and supported by Creative Manchester.

The images on display are a selection from Mourning Flowers, an art project that brings awareness to the ripple effects of trauma and fear that communities sustain after acts of violence. It uses the flowers and the empty sleeves that once wrapped them left as offerings at spontaneous memorials to bridge the disconnect between violence and the human response to it.

The three photographs on display:

1. 2025, One Pot of Five Daffodils Over Time for the Boston Marathon bombings.

2. 2024, Forty Five Sets of Flowers Left at the 9/11 Memorial on September 11, 2024

3. 2023, 18 Bouquets of flowers for each October 25, 2023 shooting victim in Lewiston, Maine.

Flower sleeves collected in 2024 from the one year anniversary of the mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine and the 9/11 Memorial. Made site specific with recycled flower sleeves, floral wire, monofilament and tape.