Paradisiacal Protea — by ALL•PORT

Paradisiacal Protea is a celebration of the Australian landscape imagined not as wilderness, but as a kind of botanical paradise. Proteas, banksias, native foliage and jewel-like blossoms unfold in generous symmetry against a deep blue background, creating a composition that feels ordered, abundant and almost dreamlike. As with much of Lara’s work, the decorative beauty carries a quieter symbolic language beneath it: hidden within the composition is the suggestion of a stag’s head, a symbol of grace, instinct, renewal and quiet strength. Its presence adds another layer to the mirrored forms and flowers at different stages of opening, reinforcing ideas of regeneration, femininity and the cyclical nature of life.