Fuzhou Vanke Lanyue Garden – Stuart Green – Public Art
The public artwork at Fuzhou Vanke Lanyue Garden spans three locations, each curated and delivered by our studio – from strategy and artist curation through to design and implementation.
The centerpiece, ‘Butterfly Droplet’, by Stuart Green, embodies the project’s spirit and Fuzhou’s heritage. Made from hundreds of stainless steel butterflies welded to a mild steel substructure, the sculpture invites exploration while integrated lighting transforms it into a striking entrance landmark.
Stuart Green
With over 25 years of experience, Stuart Green has created a wide range of public artworks across Australia and internationally. From architectural façades to monumental sculptures, his abstract works draw inspiration from natural patterns and energies. Green’s creations can be found in cities including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Abu Dhabi.
"Fuzhou is well endowed with wildlife that inhabit the surrounding lands. An often seen example of this natural world are the many butterflies that appear through the extended growing season of Fujian Province.The butterflies represent a moment of beauty and wonder in an often busy urban setting. The remind us of the natural world that can coexist with a more frenetic urban existence.
The massing of the butterfly forms into two large ring that circles above and around the viewer, suggests something of the eternal and cyclical nature of existence, and is a reminder to look around at the wonder of the natural world. The artwork becomes a moment of stillness; a center point in a busy and active space."
The artwork is formed as a continuous ring of fluttering butterflies, each butterfly formed as an individual piece of metal that is not flat, but rather folded upwards to give texture.
The individual pieces are welded together to form a sheet of butterflies with large and random gaps between each. The sheets form the skin of a continuous hollow ring, that during the day shows bright surface against internal shadow. At night the ring is internally illuminated to glow as a huge ring of light.
The artwork forms a strong and vibrant recognisable feature during the daytime. The texture of the individual butterfly components form a rich detailed surface that is picked up in the shadow and sunshine of the day.
At night the artwork comes alive through the internal illumination that shows the internal side of the surface set against the dark contrasting outer surface. It creates a strong and rich glowing radius easily visible on the long view. On close inspection it reveals the individual butterflies and rewards close inspection.
A key feature is the positioning to allow people to stand within its center a pavement level.
