Artichoke Agape — by ALL•PORT

Artichoke Agape is perhaps Lara Allport’s most personal botanical work, a meditation on unconditional love, grief and the enduring bond between father and daughter. The title draws on agape, the ancient Greek idea of a love that is selfless, unwavering and without condition, reflecting the profound love Lara received from her father and the heartbreak of losing him to pancreatic cancer far too soon. As in much of her work, meaning and iconography are woven quietly into the composition: protective artichoke forms, mirrored proteas and a watchful eye sit alongside a hidden hourglass, a gentle reminder that this too shall pass, and that all lives, however cherished, are finite. The central forms suggest both a ribcage and a heart, holding memory close. Beneath its rich colour and symmetry lies the quiet feminine strength that runs through  Lara’s practice, here expressed as the courage to carry love and loss together, and to understand that while life passes, love can remain.