By: James Groleau

Medium: 5 plate color mezzotints  
Image Size: 8 x 8 inches
Edition Size: 35
Framed

This is one of sixteen color mezzotints in the Flowers of Turbulence suite, comprised of eight portraits and eight images of flowers. Nineteenth century daguerreotypes served as inspiration for the portraits, each of which represent a product of a turbulent society, i.e., greed, compassion, or obedience.

A young figure wears an oversized ceremonial hat, its plume rising dramatically against a dark, atmospheric ground.

The exaggerated regalia suggests creativity shaped by expectation rather than freedom. Groleau frames expression as performance—an identity adopted under pressure—where imagination and conformity become difficult to separate.