When the roses fit, wear them
K.T. Doyle's installation When the Roses Fit, Wear Them proffers a poetic annunciation of divine feminine growth and fulfilment in architectural, aesthetic and material terms. Inscribed within a blanket of hand made satin roses, which elegantly peak into the form of a white satin corset, we are reminded of the labour of its author who has lovingly nurtured this piece into existence. Paralleling the metaphorical references made to the blossoming of feminine maturity is our awareness of the labour inscribed within the work itself – a process one can only describe as a labour of true love.
In Western culture flowers are understood as symbols of love and are thus exchanged as gifts. In this piece, K.T. Doyle 'presents' her audience with what has been called the ultimate gift...a piece of art.1
The evocative nature of this work is not only associated with its luxurious tactility and aroma but also with the sense that its meaning exists in the space between the artist/mother/creator and the beholder/surrogate/carer. It is almost as if the roses now depend exclusively on their audience for sustenance following their precarious pseudotransplant to the grounds of the gallery. It is also not without significance that in the botanical world a live rose-bed requires an almost obsessive amount of tending, including a delicate and laborious balance of watering, pruning and cutting. As the newly instated caretakers of this piece we are of course free of such demands, but are instead obliged to revel and participate in its sensuous and demanding beauty.
Linguistically we are also seduced by the word 'yearn', which appears on the bust of the satin corset. Echoing this inscription on the adjacent wall