There is something extra magical about creating public art installations, because everyone can enjoy them for free for several weeks or even months.
The wonderful Pacific Place Jakarta asked me to design just such an installation for all of their shoppers to enjoy. And even though I’m best known for my floral displays, I decided to create something for the Atrium without using a single flower. Instead, I used another of Mother Nature’s great beautiful wonders — Butterflies.
Butterflies, like flowers, comes in many beautiful varieties and colors; they’re an abundance of riches, and I couldn’t wait to see the finished design in Jakarta. However, it took a whole army of assistants working around the clock for well over a month to construct this five-stories-high structure made of hundreds of thousands of butterflies.
My team and I could not have done it without the local direction of Dina Touwani, who owns Flora Lines, and Budi Heruwanto, whose company is Rekacitra. They were amazing. I’d also like to thank the Pacific Place Jakarta, MasterCard, and Lamborghini for giving me the incredible opportunity to create this “Dreams Come True” exhibit.
Dear Readers, are you, like me, a butterfly lover? And, if you’re a florist, have you ever done an arrangement without using any flowers?
George Bernard Shaw once said: “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” That quote embodies how Preston Bailey approaches every event.
