Taking their name from the geological term for petrified fragments spewed out by volcanoes, the objects in the Tephra collection are constructed from specially treated flowers, mounted on sculptural forms made from hand-welded steel wire and jute, metallized using a powder-coating technique.
This technique covers the dense textures with a paper-thick layer of molten metal, giving an almost Pompeian effect of silhouettes covered in volcanic debris.
With his family having produced and sold flowers for generations, the artist has long considered how their value fluctuates in relation to their state of preservation. Rusak’s artworks explore the connections between beauty, permanence, and decay, encasing flowers and plants within resin sculptures.
