Magazine cutouts, glue, acrylic paint

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This piece was inspired by the Corpse "the Stinky" Flower, also known as Amorphophallus titanum, which blooms once every five years. This flower is located in the Huntington Library, where I've volunteered every Sunday for a couple of terms.
The main theme of this piece is inner beauty versus outer beauty. The flower is so breathtakingly beautiful and colorful when viewed from far away, but from close distance, only the poignant, stinky smell, close to that of a corpse, pervades the room.
I cut out images that represent common notions of the commercialized “beauty,” such as cosmetics and apparels — the tools people use to enhance their outer appearances — and put them into the shape of the Corpse Flower. This piece ultimately asks the question: “What is beauty? Is what is seen on the outside all that matters? Can we try to see beyond the human vanity and what lies within?”
 
Memento mori.