You learn a lot about an artist by the tools they covet most. While some opt for a canvas, paint and paint brushes others may choose film and camera. For Mr. Flower Fantastic, he’s always chosen to express himself through more natural outlets.
As his name suggests, the Queens-native made something of himself by employing rose buds and garden scissors as his instruments of choice. “The scissors that I use come from different areas of the world, some from Japan, some from Brazil, some from Africa, some from here in the United States. It's like an author with a pen,” he said during an interview.
In more recent weeks however, he’s ventured as far as 1800 Tequila’s distillery in Jalisco, Mexico to explore more shinier pursuits.
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The brand recently tapped the floral structural artist to create a luxury basketball sneaker-shaped decanter to be sold during NBA All-Star Weekend. The project is an amalgamation of several of his passions all in one. Sneaker culture, art and of course, flowers.
Yet, from the outside looking in, this may all seem odd. A flower guy, plus sneakers, plus tequila equals…? But Mr. Flower Fantastic’s followers understand the thread. They get it. He’s used flowers to honor the intersection of sports and culture for years. With no formal training, he refined his skills and artistry for years before receiving his first brush with fame in 2018, when he created a floral sneaker sculpture for a tennis legend.
Still, a glass decanter for 1800 Tequila isn’t your everyday creative venture. What made him say yes?
“I loved the story,” he says. Working with 1800 Tequila, Mr. Flower Fantastic flew to Jalisco, which is a little more than an hour from Guadalajara, to tour its breathtaking agave farm. While there, he learned it housed more than 140 million blue agave plants and that 1800 Tequila uses a nearly 200 year old recipe to craft its award-winning spirit.
“[I love] the culture, the process, the heritage and the passion behind the brand,” Mr. Flower Fantastic said. “When visiting the farm and seeing the vastness and just this generation's love for what they do, it's really inspiring. Yes, tequila is the product, but behind that comes support for an entire community.”
When it came time to create the glass decanter, Mr. Flower Fantastic drew inspiration from the same source that helps nourish and grow his signature florals.
“The foundation behind the design really stems from light,” he said. “When I looked at the Cristalino bottle for the first time, one of the things that was most appealing to me was how the light bounced off of the bottle.”
To capture the magic behind his process, Mr. Flower Fantastic invited photographers, videographers, production crew, and this writer to his Long Island City studio on a cold January morning. Mirroring the painted brick of his studio, Mr. Flower Fantastic was dressed in all black and greeted everyone on hand for this 1800 Tequila shoot. “Hey, how ya doing?” he’d say while either putting down a cardboard box or picking one up. Last minute touches were made to stage the photos for this story, and without his famed respirator mask, one might have assumed he was crew, not talent. The warmth in his space–both literal and figurative–was a welcome reprieve from the relentless wind and frigid temperatures of a New York winter.
His creative den—one that spans 11,000-square-feet across three different buildings—was a museum for all his colorful past works After a cursory glance around it was immediately clear why 1800 Tequila trusted that he was the perfect collaborator for their endeavor. Flowers and plants were everywhere, while lo-fi music played softly, relieving the chaos that’s often associated with tight schedules and tighter timelines.
Mr. Flower Fantastic’s art and 1800 Tequila intersect in that both understand community is not a one-off thing. It’s something that must be rooted within the creations that you bring to the world. Mr. Flower Fantastic and 1800 Tequila honor these shared values including taste, craftsmanship, and art. In that way, Mr. Flower Fantastic’s one-of-a-kind sneaker decanter is more than just a place to store your tequila. It’s a dope piece of art that also gives basketball culture its flowers.
Pun intended.
A difficulty that often occurs when working with flowers is availability or a lack thereof. For this decanter, Mr. Flower Fantastic's primary concern was functionality.
“I think the number one challenge for me was creating a piece where it can be used as a vessel for something that people are going to ingest,” he said. “That opened up a whole new skillset. We did a lot of research and we had to partner with some professionals within the food and beverage world that could help guide us.”
To celebrate the launch of the decanter, Mr. Flower Fantastic unveiled his 1800 Cristalino Court installation in San Francisco during All-Star weekend. The installation transported guests to the blue agave fields of Mexico—the same fields Mr. Flower Fantastic toured to inspire his decanter—showcasing the origins of tequila and how it comes to life. But for those who just want to get their hands on the Cristalino collectible, it will be sold exclusively for a limited time.
Back on set, the photographer is ready. Mr. Flower Fantastic disappeared for a moment and remerged in his uniform, an all black jumpsuit and workman boots. He also wears a black baseball cap, black latex gloves, and his famous respirator mask. He’s a boogeyman of sorts surrounded by lovely bouquets.
The mask isn’t just for mystery sake. It keeps Mr. Flower Fantastic safe. Despite his love for flowers, he’s allergic to them. Before we wrapped the interview—an hour long discussion in which he reminisced about his mother’s garden, growing up in Queens, and his love for Birds of Paradise—I asked how does one come up with the name Mr. Flower Fantastic?
“One, I'm a man who loves flowers. Two, flowers are my medium, and that's what I'm about, and three, I'm going to give it to you in a way that you've never seen before,” he said. “And so I think that was the best combination of words to describe where my heart was and also where I want to go with this.”
Well, I think we can raise a glass—of 1800 Tequila—to that.