I stumbled upon a ceramic flower at a shop that I?€?m pretty sure only exists to trick people into thinking they?€?re cultured. It?€?s a medium-sized gardenia, teal, with the kind of boldness that only comes from something pretending to be nature. The flower has a keyhole on the back, which means it's meant to be wall mounted. The shop called it wall art decor, but I?€?m convinced it?€?s a scam to convince us that things like this belong inside homes, rather than next to the checkout counter of a suburban gift shop.
I thought about it for a while before purchasing it, trying to figure out where it would fit. Maybe the kitchen, where nothing has ever been real anyway? Or in the nursery?€?because surely a teal gardenia would complement the pastel-themed disaster that is most modern-day nursery art. In the end, I hung it above the couch, and now it?€?s a strange, slightly sarcastic reminder of how much we?€?re willing to pay for something that looks like a flower but is more like a reminder that we?€?ve failed at cultivating taste.
It doesn?€?t quite belong anywhere, but that?€?s okay. As wall art decor, it?€?s found its place in the world?€?just not the one it thought it would.
