Dried Flowers in the Winter Art Print

In this art print, I combine the cottagecore themes of dried flowers and apothecary. With its nostalgic appeal to slow living, connecting to nature, and self-sufficiency, cottagecore is popular as a decor aesthetic but is also criticised as a form of capitalist escapism that romanticises a colonial-entrenched Western rural lifestyle.

Indeed, the historical precedent for cottagecore is tied to settler-colonialism. How can we deny history? But what is that yearning for this quaint cottage lifestyle today? In the thousands of years of patriarchal history, cottagecore stands out as a reminder to the romance of unapologetic femininity in both its archetypal and gendered forms. Humility towards the Earth, appreciating beauty, being resourceful, and caring for self and others, aren't these human qualities we want to strive for at anytime in history? Perhaps cottagecore isn't a remnant of a colonial past but the preservation of a sacred femininity that resisted through it. 

The winter scene from the window contrasts with the warm colourful interior of the cottage because dried flowers are the most useful when flowers can’t bloom outside. That is the realness of romanticism. In a world that is yet to thaw on the outside, we preserve all the beauty we’ve known to appreciate on the inside.