Mary Lennox

Trained as a florist in Sydney and New York, Australian national Ruby Barber has art in her blood and in her own emotional geography: she opened her first studio under the name of Mary Lennox in the building that formerly housed the first studio of her father, a photographer, and the first gallery of her mother, a contemporary artist. To complete the magic, the building was located at the corner of Mary and Lennox streets, and Mary Lennox is the name of the main character of her favourite childhood book, The Secret Garden, a classic in English children’s literature and an ode to the force of nature.

Years later, Barber moved to Berlin, where she has managed to become one of the best-known and most highly respected floral artists today. Her mastery of colour ranges, her romantic style, and her use of plants and flowers that are uncommon in floral art have made her very personal way of looking at nature her hallmark.