Flowers of Steel
London-based artist Zadok Ben-David makes flowers and trees out of cut metal, including his best-known pieces, which feature intricate flowers, modeled after Victorian illustrations.
London-based artist Zadok Ben-David makes flowers and trees out of cut metal. Intricate flowers, modeled after Victorian illustrations, are his best known pieces. His other work also references the human form, the seasons, and celestial bodies. He has exhibited internationally, including at several biannuals and he was commissioned to sculpt a piece for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Blackfield, 2008-2012
Blackfield is a space-specific floor installation, containing up to 20,000 cut steel flowers.
Blackfield, 2008-2012
Ben-David modeled specimens on nineteenth-century Victorian encyclopaedias. From the front, the field is black (hence then name). When viewed from the other side, the specimens burst with color.
Blackfield, 2008-2012
Each specimen is supported in a thin layer of sand. Some are left black, while the artist hand-painted others.
Blackfield, 2008-2012
The exhibit has been shown internationally, including London, Portugal, Sydney, Seoul, Los Angeles, and Berlin.
Blackflowers, 2010-2012
One of the painted hand-cut aluminum flowers, modeled after nineteenth-century Victorian specimen illustrations.
Blackflowers, 2010-2012
Another one of the painted hand-cut aluminum flowers, modeled after nineteenth-century Victorian specimen illustrations.
At the End of the Field, 2006
Ben-David arranged a line of trees, cut from stainless steel, each at a different cycle in the season.
Circle Trees, 2008
The artist hand-cut the silhouette of a tree and hemmed it in a circle to evoke the moon or sun.
Corten Flowers, 2010
The artist's signature metal flower; here, he has cut the specimen from Corten steel.
Simple Line, 2010
In a natural context, the large (10' x 8') Simple Line appears more delicate than its actual Corten-steel-heft. The flower will oxidize with rain and weather with the elements, thereby changing form, like a natural tree.
Vad Yashem, 2003
Ben-David designed a tree composed of steel-cut human silhouettes. The sculpture stands 21' tall at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Art Museum. Cut from Corten steel, the piece is considered an important precursor to the artist's later work with steel and botanic motifs.
Vad Yashem, 2003
Here, a full-length view of the Corten steel sculpture, at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Art Museum.
Vad Yashem, 2003
A close-up of the tree composed of steel-cut human silhouettes.
