Daylen Rivera
The journey to get to where I am now is anything but typical. Honestly, I never considered that flowers were going to a part of my life. I grew up on a sheep farm in small town Wyoming - population mostly cows.
And as much as I appreciated the way I grew up, I just KNEW that there was way more for me out there. So as soon as I turned 18, I moved across country to pursue a professional dance career. My time as a dancer has fundamentally shaped the way that I design. I approach building installation like creating a ballet - ach element on its own is BEAUTIFUL, but the real magic comes when everything moves together. I would definitely consider myself a self proclaimed flower choreographer.
I lost my mom in 2017, I stopped dancing, and I felt a part of me go missing. So I started searching for something that really filled me with that spark again. I guess It was inevitable direction of my life that I would find a career in something that married my love of movement with the deep appreciation for the beauty that the world has to offer. I know she would be proud that I found it.
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(How it all started)
I can VIVIDLY remember the first time I got to use flowers as a medium. I volunteered to help a friend out in hosting a floral workshop for some of the top designers in our community - I had planned to just kind of schlep buckets all weekend. I had ZERO legitimate floral experience.
One of the educators there was a licensed therapist, and I remember have this existential breakthrough moment when she talked about how floral design was so healing - so I opened up to her about my mom, and she asked me to create this installation to channel those feelings - so you know I hiked into the woods and collected all these foraged materials that were really speaking to me. And I created this beautiful freestanding organic structure - (ugh, I can still feel that composition in my bones) - and it just felt right. It was the same feeling I had when I danced. It was in that moment I knew this was something I had to do for myself.
You don’t pick the flower life, the flower life picks you!
It’s unbelievable, the adventures that this CRAZY FLOWER LIFE has provided. I have since built my career as a freelance designer.
I think what I love most about freelancing is getting to work with such beautiful people who also love flowers. If there is anything this work has taught me, its that there is something to be learned from everyone.
I’m just at the point in my life that I think I’ve really found my voice. I just want to create art that stops people and becomes a conversation - and honestly, I’m ready for the world to see it.
(My Style)
I’d say that I am a recovering Maxamalist.
Large scale installation are my jam! I just really love creating an atmosphere or something experiential that people can interact and be involved in. When people look at my work, I want them to feel it in their bones.
What do you want to be known for?
Long term, I want to be a house hold name. Ive never had aspirations to own a company as a wedding or event florist. The world is saturated with so many talented designers that already do that.
Instead I want to find connection with other mediums and artist (dancers, sculptors, painters) and find way to push the community by blending them together. To help people understand that flowers as a medium can be so much more than they ever expected.
DHR
Daylen loves french press coffee, brunch culture, and art that stops people and becomes a conversation. He is a serial chips-and-salsa-eater, a positivity engager full of witty one-liners, and a pastryoholic. He officially joined Sweet Root towards the beginning of 2020 to design and dream up fantastic installations! Dancing for over 15 years, he has performed for crowds of over 30,000 people in 30 different states. He grew up in a small Wyoming town nestled in the heart of the Sinks Canyon State Park, his family has a pet llama named Punky, his favorite flower is bougainvillea, and he prefers mint chocolate chip ice cream in any way, shape, or form.
His real life consists of DC Metro area living with his dog Stromboli, exploring a new city after relocating from Dallas, Texas.