NANAIMO — A newly installed temporary art piece pays tribute to local native plant species using oversized and vibrant replicas.
Inspired by the rare Crown Brodiaea flower, the Forest Flowers art project was recently installed adjacent to the walking path at Kinette Evergreen Park on Timberwood Dr. off Ninth St. in Nanaimo’s south end.
The art piece features a cluster of three oversized purple blooming flowers between six and nine feet tall, built using a translucent mould allowing sunlight to pass through it.
Forest Flowers was built using powder-coated steel and translucent moulded acrylic, inspired by the violet-purple blossoms found native to the Harewood Plains area. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)
The flowers were created by Nanaimo-based artist and Vancouver Island University professor Eliza Gardiner, and digitally fabricated by Isaiah Kingdon, an emerging artist and designer, according to a City news release.
“Forest Flowers was inspired by the quiet beauty of Nanaimo’s forests and meadows and by the joy that unexpected colour and creativity can bring to public spaces,” said Gardiner and Kingdon. “We wanted to create something playful, uplifting and rooted in place – a work that encourages people to pause, reflect and connect more deeply with the natural environment around them.”
Other recent temporary art pieces installed around the city include a tribute to Nanaimo’s lost Chinatowns, a wind phone at Bowen Rd. Cemetery, and the Moon Snail House at Pipers Lagoon Park.
Forest Flowers will be on display at Kinette Evergreen Park until 2031.
More information on Nanaimo’s temporary public art program, which includes an interactive online map, is available here on the City’s website.
Forest Flowers invites visitors to reconnect with the surrounding natural environment and learn more about native and endangered plant species on the mid-Island, says the City. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)
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