Gary Low

My practice is a florilegium of permanence, examining the tension between hereditary botany and the endurance of industrial materials. Born into a lineage of Malaysian Chinese floriculturists—spanning an orchid nursery on my paternal side and a chrysanthemum estate on my maternal side—I grew up in an environment where beauty was a labor of timing, climate, and fragility. My work is a contemporary evolution of this dialogue, translating the organic logic of the nursery into the language of the post-industrial era.

I utilize industrial polymers and modular construction to "grow" synthetic specimens that interrogate the survival of cultural and biological identity. This act of synthetic cultivation allows me to archive a disappearing family legacy into a form that will never wilt. By reconstructing the orchids and chrysanthemums of my youth out of rigid, interlocking units, I create a speculative taxonomy—a "Forever Garden" that occupies the space between architectural precision and organic memory.

In the sculptural series Inflatable Mythologies, I further explore this narrative by "grafting" cultural symbolism onto mass-produced silhouettes. By re-skinning universally recognized "Pop" icons with gold leaf, Hanakotoba, and Chinoiser...

COLLECTIONS

Commission Madonna and Child, New York (2020)
Commission Children's Playroom, San Francisco (2019)
Commission Larry Stewart Homes, Texas (2018)
Commission Aqua Reveal, New Jersey (2018)

Private collection, DC (2020)
Private collection, Singapore (2019)
Private collection, New York (2017, 2018, 2020)
Private Collection, Connecticut (2018)
Private collection, Tokyo (2016)
Private collection, Philadelphia (2016)

Superfine! Art Fair NYC 2018
May 4 - 6, 2018
459 West 14th Street
New York

Clio Art Fair 2017
March 3 - 5
508 West 26th Street
New York NY

Conception Art
Feb 2017
Philadelphia

Fusion Art Gallery Juried Art
Leaves & Petals Exhibition (Finalist)
Feb 2017
Palm Springs