These Complex Yet Simple Floral Beauties Are Made With Ceramics (Video)

Whether it's the glorious heart of a sunflower, or the mind-bending swirl of a fractal, one of nature's secrets to its seeming complexity is that it actually repeats things that are fundamentally quite simple, in patterns that make it look deceptively complicated.

That's one key lesson that London-based artist Vanessa Hogge brings into her delicate "wallflower" sculptures, which take simple elements and then reiterates them into impressive forms. We get to see her at work via this short from Great Scott Films:

Vanessa Hogge from Vanessa Hogge on Vimeo.

Seen over at This Is Colossal, Hogge's works consist of hundreds of tiny petals that are fashioned out of porcelain clay using her hands, then arranged in eye-catching patterns, and hardened in the kiln.

Hogge's pieces are reminiscent of the flower forms of daisies, chrysanthemums, dahlias and hydrangeas, and look convincing enough that they might even give off a phantom scent.

It's a visceral, painstaking but rewarding process, says Hogge:

I'm inspired by the infinite patterns and possibilities of flowers. [..] I'm creating something that looks quite complex, but each petal or miniature flower that I apply is in itself quite simple. They grow to form something complex. Every little flower I like to cut, slice, pinch and squeeze -- I use the simplest of tools and my hands, really, to create these flowers. [..] There's some driving force that moves me to create the next thing, it's almost like a search for intense beauty.

To see more, visit Vanessa Hogge.