Secret Garden
An Immersive Floral World
There’s something magnetic about hidden places… the thrill of stumbling upon something secret and unexpected. That feeling of discovery is what inspired Secret Garden, an immersive floral world designed for festival-goers to slow down, reconnect, and wander into wonder.
Tucked away among the buzz of lights and music, the Secret Garden was a quiet sanctuary, a little pocket of magic that invited people to step out of the noise and into something softer. It wasn’t about spectacle or grandeur; it was about creating a moment of calm, curiosity, and connection through art and nature.
Inspiration: Romance, Mystery, and Escapism
The idea for Secret Garden came from my lifelong love of romantic gardens and hidden worlds, places where the line between nature and imagination blurs. I’ve always been drawn to ivy-covered paths, mossy corners, and overgrown gates that feel like doorways to another realm.
I wanted to bring that same sense of intimacy and escapism into a festival space, to a world that felt alive and inviting, where every detail whispered stay awhile. The project became a meditation on slowing down, on rediscovering the beauty in stillness and sensory connection.
Built for Blossom Festival 2023, Secret Garden emerged as a quiet oasis amid the colour and sound, a floral cocoon that invited people to step away from the noise and rediscover stillness beneath its glowing dome.
Process: Building the Hidden World
To bring the vision to life, I collaborated with my friend Korri Brennan, who crafted a stunning geodome structure from recycled timber. The dome’s framework became the skeleton of the installation - sustainable, sturdy, and full of soul.
We covered the outside in camouflage netting and natural textures, blending it into the surrounding landscape so that it appeared almost invisible until you were standing right before it. From the outside, it looked like a strange, wild cocoon. From the inside, it was an entirely different world.
Inside the dome, I built a series of handmade flower lamps, each one glowing softly like a bloom caught in twilight. Every lamp had its own shape and personality, designed to mimic the forms of real petals while giving off a warm, diffused light.
The floor was layered with rugs and cushions, inviting people to sit or lie down beneath the gentle glow. Subtle floral scents and nature sounds - rustling leaves, soft birdsong, the hum of crickets - filled the space, turning it into a full-body sensory experience. It wasn’t just a visual artwork; it was something you could feel, breathe, and rest inside.
The Final Experience: A Portal of Calm
When the Secret Garden opened, it became a haven. People would peek inside, curious, then step in and instantly slow down. Some sat in silence, eyes closed, just breathing. Others whispered softly to friends, stretched out on the rugs, or traced the patterns of the flower lamps with their fingertips.
The installation became what I’d hoped for: a portal. A space that asked nothing from its visitors except presence. At night, when the flower lamps glowed and the sounds deepened, it felt like being inside a living heartbeat, a secret world quietly pulsing with life.
The Takeaway: Creating Connection Through Immersion
Secret Garden reminded me why I build these worlds: to make people feel something real. When art invites touch, sound, scent, and emotion, it transforms from decoration into experience.
This installation became a place for strangers to meet, for friends to share stories, for moments of peace to bloom amid the chaos. It showed me that immersive, interactive spaces don’t just entertain; they heal, connect, and restore.
Every project since Secret Garden has carried that same intention, to build sanctuaries of wonder where art and nature intertwine, and people can rediscover a sense of magic in the everyday.
