ALIEN BOY GIVES ME FLOWERS (2022)

Stem by stem is the first artwork collaboration between Amy Thai and ENESS.

Stem by Stem is a progression of inflatable installation with a natural extension and allure of curated vegetation. This interactivity of anthropomorphised characters, vibrant florals, musical scores, contemporary Japanese cultural motifs, simulations, and immersive technology add an intangible visual dimension, effuse warmth and provoke a more dynamic, less static conversation with viewers. 

For artists, landscapes, gardens and seascapes are often the point of reference for inspiration while buildings and architecture made rare appearances but were never the stars. However, Amy Thai points out that “there are ways of blending physical structures, public spaces and the natural.”

Thai and ENESS recognise the allure of incorporating light, florals and cutting-edge technologies as a way of creating a more stimulating environment. Stem by stem’s fluorescent light sculpture welcomes guests at the foyer of Telstra at 400 George St Sydney. 

The way the installations have been structured reveals how the rapidly industrialising world can be changed in many ways, for the better. More than that, viewers can glean in from these delicate Japanese-influenced works that provide spaces with a certain structure to explore our love for nature. 

Here, there is a mesmerising flow of deep fuschia orchids, flamboyant pink gloriosas, crisp red maple foliage, toffee roses, berried cotoneaster and magnolia branches that exerts a singular focus on how the rays of fluorescent lights emanate through the evocative florals, in a way that our surrounding nature and architecture is not, making visual language suggest more than meets the eye.