Flora Synthetica by Julie Vallon

Kessler has been put to exquisite use for Flora Synthetica, a book that showcases 32 artificial flowers. Conceived by Julie Vallon, it was published by H2L2 éditions as the first book in a new series dedicated to artists who work with photography.

For two years now, Julie Vallon has been interested in flowers and their relationship with humans. She explains that the flower is as much an ornamental motif as a symbol of political or religious power, and that poets see in it a metaphor of amorous passion, of life, of the ephemeral. However, she believes that there is no consciousness without imagination. It is in this cultural landscape that Flora Synthetica belongs. The book synthesizes the organic flower and the imaginary it inspires. It presents a herbarium, or rather a botanical codex with its nomenclature, whose taxonomy follows the laws of imagination.

H2L2 éditions combined Vallon’s photographic plates with precise typography in an uncongested layout that references scientific publications from the 19th century. Kessler is used in several styles from its three optical sizes. The cloth cover was designed by Studio Emblemata.

Flora Synthetica comes in a bilingual edition (French, English) of 500 copies. With an introduction by Inès Hosni (translated by Marie de Villette). 80 pages, 220×300 mm.