In the Presence of Flowers at Goddard House

I have always been fascinated by flowers.They are familiar to all of us, yet when you look closely, they can become something completely unexpected. A flower can reveal patterns, colors, textures, and shapes that we might never notice at first glance. But for me, flowers are more than beautiful subjects to photograph. They are reminders of the extraordinary wonder of life itself. A flower contains an entire world within it—its delicate structure, its unfolding, its imperfections, its brief moment of brilliance. Looking closely at a flower can make us aware of how much beauty exists in the ordinary, and how fleeting and precious that beauty can be.

That idea is at the center of In the Presence of Flowers, my exhibition of photo paintings, which is being presented at Goddard House Assisted Living & Olmsted Memory Support in Brookline, Massachusetts, September 16 through November 30.

My work begins with photography. I then use digital manipulation and painterly techniques to transform the photographs into luminous, layered images. I am interested in that space between photography and painting, and in what happens when something recognizable becomes almost abstract.

By enlarging and transforming these flowers, I hope to encourage a different kind of looking. When we slow down and really observe something, even something we think we know well, we can discover a sense of mystery and wonder.

And perhaps that is one of the gifts of flowers: they remind us to look.

Looking, Remembering, Connecting

I recently had the opportunity to show In the Presence of Flowers at Methuen Village Assisted Living Community. What happened there reminded me that an exhibition can become much more than a collection of pictures on a wall.

Ashley Gonzalez, Enrichment Life Director at Methuen Village, told me:

“The space has become so much more than a place to display art. It has become a place where people pause, connect, remember, smile, and feel something deeply human.”

I found that observation especially meaningful.

Residents stopped to look at the flowers. Families gathered around the paintings. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren became interested in the work. Students visiting the community found inspiration in it. Caregivers, nurses, therapists, and medical professionals would stop as they passed by.

The paintings became a reason to pause.

And sometimes that pause led to a conversation or a memory.

But I think it also led to something harder to define: a moment of wonder.

Flowers, Memory, and the Wonder of Life

One of the most moving parts of the experience was seeing the response from people living with memory loss or cognitive decline.

Ashley described watching residents respond to the paintings with a sense of wonder, sometimes as though they were seeing the flowers for the first time. That stayed with me.

There is something profound about seeing a flower with fresh eyes.

Perhaps that is because flowers are so closely connected to the cycles of life. They emerge, unfold, flourish, change, and eventually disappear. Yet they return again and again. Their beauty is both enduring and fleeting. In that way, flowers can be deeply human subjects.

They can remind us of beginnings and endings, growth and change, memory and renewal. They can remind us that life is not only something to understand—it is something to experience and wonder at.

I don't believe art always needs to be explained. Sometimes simply looking is enough.

Flowers are particularly powerful in that way. They don't require words. They can remind us of a garden, a person, a place, a season, or a moment in our lives. They can bring back something we may not even realize we remember.

And sometimes they can simply make us stop and appreciate the extraordinary fact that something so beautiful exists at all. That is one reason I enjoy bringing this work into senior living communities.

Why Goddard House

Goddard House feels like a natural home for In the Presence of Flowers.

The community has a longstanding commitment to creative aging, lifelong learning, expressive arts, and meaningful engagement. Its programs include an in-house art gallery and creative experiences designed to enrich the daily lives of its residents. It also provides Olmsted Memory Support for people living with memory loss.

For me, this exhibition continues an exploration that has become increasingly important in my work: the relationship between art, nature, memory, and human connection.

I photograph flowers because I am curious about what I will discover when I look closely.

I create the photo paintings because I want to capture that intimate but fleeting moment—with its beauty—and allow myself, and hopefully others, to settle quietly in wonder.

The flower becomes a doorway into something larger.

It can lead us from seeing a beautiful object to contemplating the mystery of life itself.

And I exhibit these paintings because I want to share that experience—to see what other people discover when they look at them.

My hope is that the paintings give someone a reason to stop for a moment, look closely, remember something, feel something, or simply experience the wonder of being alive.

Perhaps that is what flowers have been teaching us all along.

To look.

To notice.

And to wonder.

— Alan Michel