“That’s the sad thing about flowers, but somehow also the beauty that they’re so ephemeral,” says Jakob Langreiter, 24. He creates floral works of art. The majority of his artistic work is not for sale as it either has an emotional value or the flowers have no water supply. Then there are the works only as a photo.
The floristry scene per se is based on the following concept: taking something natural like a blossom and then putting it into an unnatural composition, like a bouquet of flowers. Jakob’s thought: If floristry changes nature in general, why don’t I do the same? He even wants to go one step further in his work.
He colors fresh flowers with biodegradable powder in blue or purple, i.e. in colors that do not occur in nature. In addition to flowers, he also uses artificial materials such as tulle, tinsel, wax, pearls, stones, honeycomb, mushrooms or artificial vegetables. “Just about everything that comes between my fingers and I find appealing,” he says.
Jakob grew up in Austria and discovered his soft spot for plants while he was at school. After graduating, he trained as a florist. However, he has noticed that classic floristry is not enough for him. So he started “tying wilder bouquets” in which some stems are deliberately longer, some shorter, some flowers larger, some smaller.
In May 2021 he moved to Munich and has been working as a florist in a concept store ever since. He has also had his own studio in Neuhausen since autumn 2021. However, Jakob clearly distinguishes between his work in the concept store and the studio. In the shop he has to serve customers and work according to their ideas, while in his studio he is free to experiment.
Sometimes a single blossom inspires Jakob. Then he has a vision of what he wants to implement and express. If, for example, the plant is not in season, he makes sketches. After working on it for a few days, he photographs his finished work in his studio and shares the photos on Instagram @fleuryayo. So they are there for eternity.