Rebecca Louise Law (British b.1980) is known for creating immersive installations using natural materials, with preserved flowers becoming the signature of her most recognised works. Individually sewn and suspended, viewers are often invited to navigate through them, discovering the diverse forms, colours and textures of each specimen. These colossal, intentionally ambiguous works evoke themes of symbolism, consumerism, sustainability, and life cycles, while offering spaces for quiet contemplation and rest.
Law’s wider practice spans painting, printmaking, weaving, glass, pottery, video and more. Her work explores the complexity of our human connection to nature, aiming to inspire a deeper appreciation of the natural world.
“The convenience of consumerism has made everything too easy and too fast. The lack of attention to detail and little understanding of where things come from made me want to focus the viewers' attention back to nature. Flowers are my paint and I work with space as my canvas, but as you enter any installation you are taken back to nature’s divine beauty. The human soul needs nature and time to appreciate all that the earth provides.”
The concept of time is central to Law’s practice. She has long explored the interplay between states of fresh, decayed, and preserved matter. Preservation has become fundamental to her approach.
"Preservation. It is what I do to hold on to time. To allow the viewer time to ‘be’. The flowers are dead, but not decayed. They are being held before they go back to the earth. Flowers are a symbol of survival. In nature we wouldn’t have life without the death of a flower. As humans, we often take without noticing this exchange, we need to acknowledge it with gratitude. Without plants we would not exist."
Law documented a year of daily nature observations in diaries – sketches, notes and videos for the exhibition Seasons.
A commitment to sustainability
Approaching installation art as a painter, Law gives each flower as much value as a drop of paint.
“By breaking down the flowers and preserving each head as an element of colour I settled on swapping my paints for flowers. Flowers became a 3D palette that allowed me to paint my expressions of nature in the air.”
Her early commissions involved transforming large spaces with fresh flowers that dried in situ. Viewers were invited to witness this gradual transformation, enabling multiple encounters with evolving works. No material was wasted: flowers from short-term installations were returned to her studio for drying and re-sculpting.
Since 2003, Law has collected every flower and even the dust left behind. Her archive of over two million preserved flowers has been exhibited across the USA, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the UK. With each new installation, new flowers are added to the growing body of material. The dust is carefully swept up, archived, and encased.
Recent installations have utilised the artists vast collection of materials, amassed over the last 20 years since the start of this pioneering practice, alongside locally sourced materials. The quantity of material has allowed Law to sculpt monumental artworks that can approach extremely sensitive subjects related to nature.
Working with a material as ephemeral and decorative as the flower introduces complexity to Law’s practice. Yet, she remains loyal to its fragility and symbolism. The themes of waste and commercialism weigh heavily on her, and she is a pioneer in rethinking how we engage with nature.
Today Law grows her own flowers in Snowdonia and she works with institutions to source flowers locally – whether from their own grounds, commercial floral waste or with permission from nearby gardens and parks.
‘A dried flower holds time. A fresh flower holds a moment, and both are equally special. The beauty of a dried flower is being able to revisit it and observe it as a preserved object of the earth, a perfect form of nature that holds onto its fragility.’
Engaging the community
Recognising her craft as an opportunity to bring people together, Law has invited various communities to participate in the creation of her installations.
‘I like my works to be site specific and for me this includes the people of the land. I believe that consciousness comes from valuing both place and community. My installations invite local people to contribute, often from schools and community groups, creating an opportunity for neighbours to meet neighbours. Art becomes a platform of communication when we open it up. I like involving others in the process, sharing a sense of ownership and starting relationships that can continue once the artwork has gone. Those relationships are the legacy.’
Community-based exhibitions include: La Fleur Morte, Connection, The Archive, Calyx, Awakening, The Journey, Seasons, Florilegium, The Womb, Captured, Banquet, Community, La Jardin Préservé, and Pride.
notable commissions
Hanging Garden (Hermès, UK, 2011)
The Grecian Garden (Onassis Cultural Centre, Greece, 2014)
The Beauty of Decay (Chandran Gallery, USA, 2016)
Pride (Skovgaard Museum, Denmark, 2017)
Life in Death (Shirley Sherwood Gallery, UK, 2017)
Community (Toledo Museum of Art, USA, 2018)
The Womb (Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, USA, 2019)
Florilegium (Parma, Italy, 2020)
Seasons (Compton Verney Art Gallery, UK, 2021)
The Journey (Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, USA, 2021)
Awakening (Honolulu Museum of Art, USA, 2022)
Calyx (Kunsthalle München, Germany, 2023)
The Archive (Cleveland Public Library, USA, 2024)
Connection (Vantaa Art Museum, Finland, 2024)
La Fleur Morte (Saatchi Gallery, UK, 2025)
Her work has also been exhibited by Bo. Lee Gallery, Broadway Studio & Gallery, NOW Gallery, The Garden Museum, Nivaagaards Museum, and institutions including the National Trust, Royal Academy of Arts, and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
A monograph of Law’s work, published in October 2017, is available to order.