As part of its ongoing commitment to presenting innovative, site-specific public art projects, north Houston’s dynamic lifestyle hub City Place has commissioned London-based creative studio Graphic Rewilding – known internationally for its imaginative installations that bridge urban and natural worlds – for the community’s latest City Place pop up. The expansive piece “Flower Clouds” debuts at City Place on March 15. Presented as a collection of whimsical park benches that colorfully depict over 25 species of natural vegetation (as well as insects and birds) native to the Texas Gulf Coast, Flower Clouds will span The Plaza from its uppermost part outside the Houston City Place Marriott down to the waterfront and the start of City Place Park.
The seven, unique bench elements – each reaching over 6 feet tall and nearly 10 feet wide – will serve as a canvas for the hand drawn designs created in a bold, pop-impressionism style that is the signature of Graphic Rewilding. The imagery is meant to rekindle a human connection to nature while also underscoring the joys of home-grown local culture. Visitors relaxing on the oversized benches will be enveloped by hyper-lush meadowscapes, as if they were floating on a floral cloud (hence the name “Flower Clouds”).
Graphic Rewilding has been planting similar seeds since its founding as an art collaborative in 2021 by fine artists Lee Baker and Catherine Borowski. The duo shares a vision of counterbalancing the loss of green space in urban areas with colorful, flower-inspired art. Their immersive experiences (Baker hand-draws the art; Borowski is the curator/producer of the projects) have taken the form of large-scale murals, sculptures, banners and pop-up installations that give literal meaning to the term “flower power.”
“We both believe in the power of public art. In this case, to bring nature and its emotional connections to unexpected urban spaces,” Baker said. “Even a depiction of flowers has the ability to emotionally reconnect the viewer with and have empathy for the sensory powers of the natural world.”
The site-specific City Place installation is Graphic Rewilding’s second iteration of Flower Clouds, a concept first presented as bench sculptures at Kensington and Chelsea Art Week in London in 2023. For the Houston project, Graphic Rewilding researched and trekked the Spring, TX area to learn about native flora and fauna. It’s an opportunity for visitors to get up close and personal with plant and animal life they may or not be familiar with.
“That is one of the gratifying things about work: People often tell us they’re seeing nature through new eyes,” Borowski said. “This is art that is rooted in a place, but for some, this can be an entirely new way of looking at the immediate world around them.”
Given that City Place straddles both urban and vast natural environments, this version of the piece lent Flower Clouds a unique and more immediate sense of place. The bloom-flocked benches represent a celebration of the local environment – a bit of Houston-based paradise regained.
To be located at 1250 Lake Plaza Drive Spring, TX 77389, Flower Clouds will be the fourth temporary public art installation presented by City Place’s as part of an effort curated by Houston’s Weingarten Art Group. Open to the public and free of charge, the art piece can be experienced daily from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. through April 30. After a short hiatus during the month of May, Flower Clouds blooms again June 1 through July 27.
