MISS JOAQUIM ORCHID: A Bespoke Paper Sculpture for Singapore Design Week
Commissioned by Kinetic Singapore.
Reclaimed paper and wire | 45 x 45 x 100 cm | 2025
For this project I was commissioned by design agency Kinetic Singapore to create a life-sized paper sculpture of the Miss Joaquim Orchid.
The Miss Joaquim is a particularly special flower in Singapore. It was created by horticulturalist Agnes Joaquim and was the first orchid hybrid to be documented in the country. In 1981, it became Singapore's national flower, representing the country's uniqueness and its rich hybrid culture.
The orchid was to form part of the Unnatural History Museum, an exhibition created for Singapore Design Week 2025 which was celebrating some of Singapore's more curious creations. Kinetic sent me photographs of the plant, along with the dimensions they needed me to work within, and I spent time studying the shape and structure of the flowers, leaves, stems and aerial roots.
There is something I particularly enjoy about working on species I've never studied before. A plant that might initially be unfamiliar gradually becomes something I know intimately. I began to notice the way the flowers gathered along the stems, the movement of the leaves and the delicate forms of the roots. From these observations came a collection of sketches and diagrams that allowed me to start imagining how a living plant could be translated into paper.
MAKING THE ORCHID
The scale of the sculpture presented a new challenge. At around a metre tall, it was considerably larger than the free-standing paper flowers I usually make, and I wanted it to retain the lightness and delicacy of the real orchid rather than becoming something that simply looked like a large paper object. The brief also called for the sculpture to have no visible text. I chose recycled tissue packing paper, partly because of its delicate quality and partly because it allowed me to continue working with a recycled material.
Each petal was painted individually with watercolour before being shaped and assembled into a flower. The stems were bound with tissue paper rather than thread, creating a smoother surface that echoed the stems and aerial roots of the living plant. Slowly, flower by flower, the orchid began to take shape.
Because the plant was so much larger than the flowers I normally make, I also had to consider how I was going to give it a sturdy structure. Each stem needed to be carefully considered including its length, position and the number of flowers, leaves and roots it would carry, so that the completed plant would feel full and natural.
Miss Joaquim Orchid | Recycled Paper and Wire | 45 x 100 cm | 2025.
CREATING SOMETHING THAT CAN TRAVEL
The orchid also had another challenge to overcome: it had to make the journey from my studio to Singapore. I needed to find a way of giving the sculpture enough structure to stand securely while still allowing it to be carefully packed and transported. After experimenting with different approaches, I decided to separate the stems from the undergrowth and root system. Gaps were built into the base so that the stems could be re-positioned once the sculpture arrived in Singapore. This not only made the orchid possible at a larger scale, but also gave the team at Kinetic some freedom to arrange the flowers at the other end. Most importantly, it meant the delicate stems could travel separately from the base, protected in their own box.
FROM THE STUDIO TO SINGAPORE
There is always something slightly magical about sending a piece of work out into the world. After weeks of cutting, painting, shaping and assembling, the orchid was carefully packed and sent on its journey to Singapore. It arrived safely and in plenty of time for Singapore Design Week 2025.
The finished sculpture was displayed in its own case at the entrance to the Unnatural History Museum, where a plant that had begun as photographs and sketches in my studio became part of an exhibition celebrating Singapore's unusual and fascinating stories. For me, that is one of the most rewarding things about making commissioned work. A client's idea can begin as something quite distant; a photograph of a flower, a particular place or a story they want to tell, and through the process of making, it becomes something tangible, carefully considered and entirely new.
HAVE A PROJECT IN MIND?
I create bespoke paper sculptures and installations inspired by plants, insects and the natural world, working with clients to bring particular ideas, stories and places to life.
Miss Joaquim Orchid | Recycled Paper and Wire | 45 x 100 cm | 2025.
Photograph credit: Kinetic Design Singapore.