Mevlana Lipp’s glowing, plant-like creations celebrate the complexity of our ecosystem

The Düsseldorf-based artist explores how plant life can be used to represent human attributes, emotions and characteristics.

From afar, Mevlana Lipp’s glowing artworks look like digital creations. Their detailed texture, fine-tuned shading and unearthly colours all give the impression that technology has somehow been involved in creating such precision. They are, in fact, paintings. Realised on wooden reliefs and velvet backgrounds with acrylic paint, the pieces are a true testament to the skill of Mevlana’s hand.

Coming from a small village in rural Germany, and spending a lot of his youth outdoors, nature has always been a central influence to Mevlana. The glowing, plant-like creations featured throughout his work – with intertwined vines, luscious flowers and broad leaves – are a testament to “the complexity of our ecosystem”. But, not only are they a means of exploring the natural environment, Mevlana also observes them to “stand in as symbolic representations for human affects”. He concludes: “For me they symbolise our emotions and experiences beyond the limitations of our conscious mind.”

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Mevlana Lipp: Chime (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Pearl (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Momentum (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Explorer (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2021)

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Mevlana Lipp: Explorer (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2021)

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Mevlana Lipp: Genesis (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Search (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Euphoria (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Liaison (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Cosmos (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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Mevlana Lipp: Pond (Copyright @ Mevlana Lipp, Courtesy of Mevlana Lipp and Capsule Shanghai, 2022)

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About the Author

Olivia Hingley

Olivia (she/her) joined the It’s Nice That team as an editorial assistant in November 2021 and soon became staff writer. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in English literature and history, she’s particularly interested in photography, publications and type design.

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