The sculpture was installed in April 2012 at Reiman Gardens in Iowa as part of my traveling exhibition, Nature Connects. In October 2012 it will travel to it’s next location, so stay tuned for updates!

Building it

The sculpture is 7 feet tall and was built with 41,242 LEGO pieces. My assistant, Jung Ah, did much of the brickwork on this elegant piece, which was designed and built the way a real rose is built… every petal is there, unfurling out from the rose bud.

A view from the top, midway through construction. The stem is reinforced with a steel core so that this top-heavy sculpture can withstand high winds, and every piece is glued to the next to prevent damage from overly curious visitors :)

This sculpture was so tall, we had to put tables on top of tables (and then step stools on top of that!) in order to be high up enough to finish the uppermost layers!

The sculpture was assembled in my New York City art studio, then custom-crated in museum-quality exhibition crates for my new show, Nature Connects, which is currently touring the United States.