Atelier Visit
A look inside Maurice Harris' world
Since founding the floral design studio Bloom & Plume in 2010, internationally renowned Los Angeles-based floral artist Maurice Harris has built up a compelling client list of celebrities and high-end companies, including Louis Vuitton, The Row, Dior, Nike and Dolce & Gabbana, just to name a few. Harris’s flower art has been presented at MOCA and LACMA, his words have appeared in magazines such as W Magazine and The New York Times, his charming personality has been channelled through the TV screen, and his floral designs have featured in Beyoncé’s 2020 musical film Black Is King.
Although your resumé reads like a celebrity guestlist now, you grew up in an unfamiliar place called Stockton, California. What was it like?
“Stockton is one of the armpits of California, located inland from San Francisco about 45 minutes south of Sacramento. It looks like a modest American suburb. Our family moved there because my father, who’s a Baptist pastor, started a church there. Stockton is pretty ordinary place, while at a young age it became clear that there was nothing ordinary about me. In a way, this place helped me to really understand and cultivate my true uniqueness.”
Did your creativity show at an early age?
“At the age of seven, I was already rearranging the furniture at home. I was on a severe quest to find optimal beauty with the simple means that our family had. I tried to make everything in the house appear more designed and inviting. Although I was interested in fashion and later studied art, flowers were always there. I would make a flower arrangement for my teacher, for instance, or help my dad when he wanted to give my mom a bouquet.”
How did your parents feel about a son arranging flowers?
“Recently, I asked my mom what I was like as a kid. She told me that she now finally understands that I was always a very determined person. When I had something in mind, I never cared about the consequences. I’ve always been a larger-than-life type of person. My mom grew up with a brother who was a musical savant — he could play the piano really well at an early age. Because of him, my mom wasn’t surprised by me. She saw a parallel. For this reason, my eccentricity didn’t alarm her. My father’s perspective was that his son had a clear talent, and you can’t mess with God’s gift. (laughs)”
Where does your love for flowers come from?
“My grandmother. She loved fashion, flowers and God. (laughs) She was elegant, theatrical, glamorous and an over-the-top personality. I was obsessed with her. More importantly, she offered me a roadmap for how to carve out your own lane. In retrospect, I understand the tension in her life between her extravagance and her life as a mother, taking care of eight kids and a husband. Although her family took up most of her time, she always found a way to do her thing. If she had lived in another time and setting, she would have been an accomplished artist.”
How did your career bloom so fast?
“After college, I was at a weird crossroads of jobs and new challenges, struggling to translate my creativity into a career when, all of a sudden, a friend of mine introduced me to fashion designer Jenni Kayne. She asked me to do a deal for her window displays and said she would introduce me to other potential clients, which she did. A lot of opportunities came to me through her. Later on, I managed to attract more by delivering perfect work every time. Work ethic is my standout quality. That goes for a lot of established artists. Take Beyoncé, she doesn’t rely on her incredible talent; she works very hard.”
You describe your style as ‘natural opulence’: what’s the difference between that and just ‘big and bright’?
“Opulence can become really tacky very easily, and I’ll admit that at the core I am a tacky person. I work hard to temper that. When there’s too much pepper in a dish, you can’t enjoy the food. So I scale things down so it becomes a natural image. Also, I always choose more curved and weird flowers. Anything that is out of the ordinary, a tree that doesn’t grow straight. I’m drawn to things that are a bit off, just like me. That, for me, is also natural opulence.”
How do you start when making a flower arrangement?
“I have different angles. Usually, I go to the market and choose intuitively. Sometimes it’s a colour, sometimes something else. Everything is beautiful, so I try to to illuminate it. When a flower is too obviously beautiful, I leave it be. It’s too easy. I often choose forgotten flowers. As a Black gay man, you’re often overlooked, too. I project that onto the flowers. When I see a flower like that, I think, ‘I’ll give you a beautiful home.’ I’ll try to prove that they have value.”
You recently debuted as a designer with a vase collection for Serax called CAMEO IN&OUT, which features your cameo (engraved portrait in gemstone). How did that happen?
“I love magic and creating things that don’t seem to be what they are. When I was about 22 years old, I was out with a friend. There was a stand where you could cut out your silhouette in less than a minute and create your cameo. It didn’t really attract me, but my friend liked it. The cameo ended up hanging on the fridge. Years later, when I was creating my brand Bloom and Plume, the cameo became my logo. Some time after that, we were playing around with the logo, thinking about new possibilities, trying out optical illusions. At a certain point, we thought: what if the cameo became a vase? Well, here we are now, with this collection. The collection offers two shapes: ‘Out,’ with the face drawn outward in profile, and ‘In,’ with the face inverted and cut into the glass.”
Which flowers are overused in bouquets?
“Red roses need a break. Especially when they’re all alone. I don’t like the stereotypical variety of roses. There are so many varieties around, some of which barely look like roses. Choose a Quicksand rose for example. The red rose is like a tomato. You can get it all year round, but they’re only good in season.”
Lastly: a pro tip on making your own arrangement?
“Be patient! Everybody thinks that you should be able to do things in an instant. Our ego doesn’t allow us to fail. Allow a learning curve. Also, don’t cut the stem too short. Cut it little by little until it’s perfect. Look at the proportions. Take your time. Think of it this way: ‘The chicken needs to marinate.’” (laughs)
