If you could be a plant, wouldn't you want to be a lotus flower? They grow out of the muck and towards the sun to produce awe-inspiring blossoms. The seeds from a lotus pod can remain viable for centuries. Even the tuber, when cut open, is the most beautiful shape and is...delicious.
After a recent visit to the BBG to see their Corpse Flower, I took a little time to enjoy their water lillies and lotus blossoms in front of the Conservatory.
This week I found time to go see a little bit of the Dale Chihuly installation at the NYBG that has transformed their lotus and water lily pools...
View the BBG water lily and lotus blossom slideshow here.
View the NYBG Chihuly slideshow here.
Going head to head with Mother Nature is no small task, especially considering the area that Chihuly attempts to cover in both the Conservatory and the NYBG outdoor gardens. Some of the pieces are more successful than others. The two that felt as if they worked the best in their envronment were a chandelier made of a black armature with blazing rondels forming a beautiful sun in the desert area of the Conservatory, and blown glass in the shape of abstracted herons near the lotus blossoms.
After seeing the exhibit during the day I have no doubt that the evening viewings are worth the trip. To find out more about the works in the exhibit or about Dale Chihuly you can visit the exhibit section of the NYBG website.
- Matt N.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
matt, beautiful shots as always. i'm not a huge fan of chihuly but some of his lovely rich blue glass in amongst the plants is stunning. i often find his work a bit to showy but delicately placed blue glass shapes against the green of nature look just right.
Chihuly has pretty much taken over my town's conservatory/botanical garden.
Well, if I had to be a flower I don’t know if I’d really want to be a lotus flower... One thing for sure though, I’d hate to be a “Venus Flytrap”, only because I know what those flies have been “feasting” on before they get caught! Yuck! ;)
you know what almost all chihuly reminds me of (and especially this)? the candy fruits and flowers in the chocolate room in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
i would like his work so much more if his medium was caramelized sugar and every piece was edible.
Lotus is so prized and esteemed in Chinese culture that girls are named after this flower (and the root appears in alot of the coooking).