FLOWERS AS A MEDIUM FOR ART AND MORE WITH MISHA TODIRASCU

Misha Todirașcu’s love of flowers is something that grew organically. 

Her fascination with flowers began with early mornings at the Sunday markets picking fresh cut stems from local sellers and arranging them for her then boss. His demands and taste were somewhat particular, but Misha’s arrangements always triumphed. 

Since then, Misha has made movements within the florist industry, even starting her own project with a friend called ‘But First Flowers’, supplying offices with bunches. Now, her and the team at neighbourhood favourite, Studio Linne, supply bunches to local businesses, Berliners and create large scale installations, all the while keeping that personal touch established in the early days. 

You can often spot fans of of the studio and shop walking around the city, distinguished by their colourful bunch in hand, wrapped in trademark groovy, iridescent foil. 

Misha adores designs that span from the moody and gloomy to the fantastically colourful (“because look at all the colours we have!”), and implements a maximalist style that has become synonymous with Studio Linne. 

For Misha, “flowers are not just flowers”. Indeed for centuries people have connected flowers with cultural and religious significance but for floral designer Misha, they are a medium for art, decor, design and texture, too.

She says that floral artists deserve “a chair at the table of established art” and is on a mission to make that happen. 

On a thundery, blustery autumn day, I came by her snug shop in Neukölln to talk about keeping balanced when you own a business, how flowers are a medium for so much more and the movements the industry must make to stay modern. 

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF FLORISTRY? ARE THERE ANY PROBLEMS THAT FACE THE INDUSTRY AND WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? 

I feel we need a separate article for that! Haha. 

For now I am focusing on the most immediate problem as a floral design studio: making sure the creative industry acknowledges us in their project credits. 

I spend days searching the credits of floral artists in most movies/visual art pieces that I love and that is mostly because they are ‘integrated’ into the set design, effectively erasing their contributions and having others receive credit for their work. I believe it’s time for that to change. 

AND WHAT ABOUT STUDIO LINNE? WHAT KIND OF FUTURE DO YOU SEE FOR THE BUSINESS?

A versatile one. 

Considering all the great people we meet on our way through our work, we can not wait to see where all these synergies take us.

YOU MENTIONED BEFORE THAT YOU CONSIDER FLOWERS TO BE ART- TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT 

Sure, in the sense that art is mastering a medium to express emotion and tell stories, floral design is the same as painting, ceramics, dance – flowers in the right hands, too, can be deeply meaningful.

 It will take more work for people to appreciate this.

For a long time floral design was considered a housewife hobby because it was related to women.

I believe we are over those times and are ready to give floral artists a chair at the table of established art. 

YOU’VE SAID BEFORE THAT ‘FLOWERS ARE NOT JUST FLOWERS’- WHAT DO THEY MEAN TO YOU?

Well considering this is my way of expression, I channel all I have and dedicate 100% of myself when I create with flowers.

That is why they get a different connotation every time I use them and they become more than an object.

AT THE YUN JOURNAL, WE LIKE TO EXPLORE THE CONCEPT OF ‘BALANCE.’ BETWEEN RUNNING A STUDIO AND A STORE, HOW DO YOU STAY BALANCED?

My balance is very much related to how much time I have for myself and with myself.

Every week I try to channel time into things I find enjoyable on my own.

A walk in my favorite park, reading the book I am excited about, watching the movie that’s sat in my waiting list for a month, getting lost in albums of bands I love, and most importantly, taking a long bath. 

All these things help me keep in touch with myself and stay grounded.