Beauty in Chaos: A Study in Scale
How the monumental scale of a mural cycle by Emilio Florentine shifts the experience of a public lobby, creating an immersive experience in Morristown, NJ.
Emilio Florentine, Beauty in Chaos, 2025. Site-specific mural. © Emilio Florentine. Photography: © Connie Zhou, courtesy of Gensler.
Artist: Emilio Florentime
Artwork: Beauty in Chaos, 2025. Site-specific mural.
Location: Morristown, NJ
Partners: Sanofi, Gensler
About the artist: Corey Fleming, known professionally as Emilio Florentine, is a muralist currently based in Jersey City, NJ. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and his murals can now be found across the country—from Jersey City to Puerto Rico to Los Angeles. In addition to his mural practice, Florentine operates a screen-printing business, collaborating with other artists to bring their creative work to life.
Goal + Impact: Beauty in Chaos wraps across multiple walls, using oversized flowers to emphasize monumental scale. These aren't just delicate peonies and blue delphiniums. They're massive, engulfing forms captured at their most dramatic moment: petals drooping and bursting simultaneously, suspended between full bloom and inevitable atrophy. By scaling up, Florentine transforms the fleeting botanical life cycle into something you can't ignore, instead filling your field of vision and demanding attention.
Florentine employs a blend of Impressionist and Surrealist techniques to capture his subject matter. The color work is vibrant and layered, creating depth and movement across the architectural canvas. Some petals seem to float weightlessly while others droop under the gravity of their own lushness. The composition creates rhythm and visual flow, guiding viewers around corners and through transitions in the built environment.
This approach—bringing the outside world in at an exaggerated scale—has become Florentine's signature. His floral forms don't just represent nature; they insist on their importance, especially during moments of uncertainty and change.
