Artist
Casto Solano
Media
Stainless steel, glass, & LED lighting systems
Location
Outside Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Our goal was to bridge the site’s unique ecosystems and architecture, and provide an exquisite and iconic meeting point for the general public. Given the setting in a public garden, the piece needed to be particularly appealing to children and families, and be capable of opening up new worlds to the imagination. Casto therefore designed a series of giant grasses of over three meters in height. Their stalks curve and intertwine, and their leaves trace intricate forms into the sky. Made from polished stainless steel, their mirrored surfaces gently reflect the light and colours of their surrounds; catching fire with the rising and setting sun, and glowing gently during daylight hours. On wet days, raindrops are channelled down their stalks, and water beads on smooth steel surfaces. They are spaced to allow people to walk within them, experiencing the world form another perspective. Fireflies cling to the stalks. Crafted from stainless steel and with LED lights housed in hand-blown, reinforced glass housings, at night and in low light they can be switched on to illuminate the sculpture and represent a constellation of natural light.