Mothers Day PROFILE

by Taylor Priebe

May 06, 2023

This Mothers Day - we'd like to highlight one of our very own mothers: Vicki Saik.

Vicki is an artist and mother of two boys living on Bundjalung Country. She has been with Braer since 2020 - a friendly face you would recognise if you have visited the studio to pick up flowers. With a background in Art Direction and Production Design in TV and film, styling and props; Vicki brings a wealth of experience art directing and producing shoots and events for Braer. Vicki uses the medium of flowers to deepen her artistic practice and is studying Sogetsu Ikebana. She has most recently welcomed a new baby boy into the family!

We asked Vicki to share a little bit of her world...

On being a mother and working with flowers:

They are both hands on jobs requiring love and attention!

When I became a mother for the first time, I wasn't prepared for the stripping of my identity in so many things I'd previously been sure of. The work I had previously pursued and loved could not accommodate my greater desire of becoming a mother. Working in the field I had worked in before children required long gruelling hours for intense periods of time. So I returned to nature to connect to this new person I struggled to identify with. Little did I know at the time that my identity and whole being was going-to-seed in a new way.

For me, being a mother is about cherishing each new season, much like the way I approach working with flowers. Not forcing but following and embracing what blooms in the season; sometimes nothing is flowering and other times there is an abundance of blooms. I have found meaning and beauty in the small, simple moments in mothering. All you have to do is be nurturing with your innate intuition and allow children (and flowers) to do their thing.

Braer x She Made Me Cloth 2021Practicing Ikebana in the studio, Mother's Day 2020 - Producing 'Thank You' tote bag with Liv Enqvist

On set for Braer, installing wedding flowers, on set for Addition Studio.

Production and styling for Braer Christmas 2022

MOOD

Emma Hartvig - 'Mother as a muse'

I birthed my second child 8 weeks ago so this photo series really resonates with me right now. A documentation of mothers in all her force, fatigue and beauty.

Hand-towel Rack with Chrysanthemums and Meandering Stream, Japan, 18thC

I'd always get excited picking up a script with scenes in the bathroom, so much about a character can be drawn from this room. It's a shame modern household bathrooms have become so utilitarian. I don't get it, this is the room where most of your self care takes place, beautiful objects belong here too like this Japanese hand-towel rack.

Deryk Body's Garden - 'A life outdoors' Gardens Illustrated

We live on property and I am constantly learning and in awe of nature! Gardening teaches you so much and this is the kind of fairy tale garden I hope to create one day. Self sufficiency at its finest.

Beef TV Series

Seeing the representation of Asians through this kind of visceral storytelling feels more than progressive, it's unapologetically necessary!

A FEELING

Childbirth is still fresh in my memory, despite all the fuzzy days that have followed. I am on the road to regaining my strength and while I get lost in the eyes of my newborn, I am missing the time I've held for my eldest child over the past 5 years.

Sometimes the illusion of not being there for him as much any more creeps in. Then I see him offering strangers a lemon myrtle leaf to smell at a party, he comes rushing back to tell me "Mum I'm rich in thank you's!". It's reassuring to know being his mother, and a working-mother is profoundly weaving into his own tapestry.

And other cute moments like; "Mum do you think this toast is screaming at me to eat it!?"

Queen is a family favourite and we rock out to their big hits together often. Not sure how we missed 'Radio Ga Ga' until now...

A MOMENT

(daily practice or meditation, take us through your ritual?)

The name of our first son means hidden treasure and our second is to bask in the sun. Some days we have a good rhythm going together as a family and other days, not so much. But everyday I take time to greet the sun and do my best to seek the treasure amongst the mess. And yes it's true, the moment you see your children bond will expand you in a way you didn't know your heart could feel.

FLOWER

IF YOU WERE A FLOWER….

Camellia, of Asian origin and a flower that is both soft and strong; the camellia flower have petals that will drop not long after its been cut but foliage that will remain glossy and green. In China, the camellia symbolises eternal love as both petals and calyx fall together much like the devotion I have for my family.

Photo's in this PROFILE by Claudia Smith, Kelvin Saik, Yaz Ward and Braer.