‘As wild hearts, we are here to transform and to be transformed.’ Meet the artist and illustrator behind this season’s message cards, made for the ones we love.

‘Art is a way of seeing the world through different eyes,’ says our latest collaborator, Karen Suehiro. ‘I want to communicate that we go through a lot of cycles, beginnings and endings. The more we observe, the more we realise how connected we all are.’

Karen sees herself as a ‘multiple being’ – a perspective that is central to her creative process. ‘I try to create whole universes in my work,’ she says. ‘I like to think of the illustration as a living thing; I start wondering which places it would like to go or the things it would wear, and I love when I can add some element connected with a story from my own life.’ 

Having worked as a graphic designer and art director for almost 10 years, Karen began to incorporate illustration into her life after being diagnosed with epilepsy in 2018. ‘Illustration was always a passion of mine, as an escape from reality,’ she explains. ‘To paint, to draw really helped me understand what was happening, to find comfort and connect with myself again.’ 

Nature plays an important part, too: from the bonsai tree she bought in memory of her grandfather to growing an ‘urban jungle’ in her apartment in São Paulo, it’s a way to free her mind and be present. ‘One lesson that I’m still trying to learn from nature is that everything has its own time,’ says Karen, ‘we can’t control everything, but we can adapt.’

For her collaboration with The Floristry, she considered how we might continue to live in harmony with nature in the modern world (‘To keep the illustrations “wild”, I decided to mix digital with a touch of gouache’), drawing on our Gypsy Heart bouquet and movies to create new narratives. Karen is also inspired by the artists Hilma af Klint and Mark Rothko, their expression of emotion and experimentation with colour, and this same energy can be seen throughout her works.

Which is her favourite illustration? ‘That’s hard! But if I had to choose, I would go with Lunar Flight,’ she says. ‘The idea is that, as wild hearts, we are here to transform and to be transformed. We have so many layers – more than we can even imagine. For me, the meaning is that we’ve been through such hard times; now is the time to observe and welcome the changes within us, and never forget to appreciate the ones we love and care about.’

Receive a complimentary illustrated message card by Karen Suehiro with any order from The Floristry during the month of February 2022. Follow the artist @karensuehiro