Observed
Butterflies landed on the sculptures throughout installation.
The moths stayed later.
People looked upward.
A conversation over nachos during the site visit continued at the exhibition opening.
Leaving Wisconsin felt different than arriving.
August 2025
Field Notes
Collaboration changes the work.
Plants.
People.
Light.
Each shaped what became possible.
Bright colors attract more than people.
Scale creates empathy.
Not through spectacle.
Through proximity.
Fiber optics carried light.
The conservatory carried humidity.
Both transformed the sculptures.
Installing a garden is slower than building one.
Some sculptures traveled home.
Three remained.
Every installation leaves something behind.
August 2025
Luminous Echoes
Bolz Conservatory, Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Madison, Wisconsin
Temporary Installation
Single-use plastic bags, plastic litter, fiber optics, stainless steel, thread
Variable dimensions
2025
Luminous Echoes was a site-responsive installation developed over the course of a year in collaboration with the education, horticulture, and exhibition teams at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Installed throughout the Bolz Conservatory for GLEAM, the project transformed more than thirty illuminated sculptures made from reclaimed plastic bags into an immersive orchid landscape. Working alongside lighting designers, each sculpture was integrated with both internal fiber optics and theatrical lighting, creating shifting relationships between sculpture, architecture, and the living plant collection.
Collection
Three sculptures created specifically in response to orchids from the Bolz Conservatory were acquired by Olbrich Botanical Gardens following the exhibition. (Images 1-4)
