Flower of Life
2023
Dead oak tree, stainless steel, quartz
H1800 cm × Ø900 cm
An interactive installation by Tia-Thuy Nguyen
Energy — The inspiration
‘Flower of Life’ is a large-scale interactive installation created from the preserved body of a dead oak tree, wrapped in stainless steel and adorned with quartz stones — placed exactly where the tree once stood, amid the natural landscape of Provence, France.
Inspired by the Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed — it can only change from one form to another and the Buddhist notion of impermanence, the work is a meditation on death, transformation, and the unending cycles of energy in the universe. Light plays a central role — not merely illuminating the sculpture, but playing with it: refracting, shimmering, shifting moment by moment.
Tia-Thuy Nguyen does not present a static object, but a living presence — a form that exists through interaction with its surroundings and the viewer. Flower of Life is not an end, but a new form of life: sustained through art, through light, and through connection.
The original living oak tree in Chateau La Coste, which was restructed by Tia-Thuy Nguyen
Flower of Life - An interactive Installation by Tia-Thuy Nguyen
Sunlight — Manipulator or Playmate?
The journey of creating a series of installations that “play with sunlight” began for Tia-Thuy Nguyen in 2016. She does not control the light — she simply connects it: to the artwork, to the viewer, and to the ever-changing moment in between.
In ‘Flower of Life’, a dead oak tree is given new form and new skin — and then returned to the very place where it once stood, full of leaves and light.
Now, the tree remains still, but it is no longer indifferent to the world around it. A gust of wind stirs its steel leaves and they shimmer. A timely ray of sunlight makes it glow. Even at night, the sweep of a passing car’s headlight can suddenly bring it to life.
The energy of ‘Flower of Life’ does not reside in the sculpture alone, but in its relationship with everything that touches it — wind, sun, darkness, movement, the human gaze. To stand before it is to wait for something to happen. It is the feeling of a hunter watching for a wild creature to emerge, or a child playing hide and seek — waiting to hear their name called in the light.
The accompanying exhibition to ‘Flower of Life’
Presented alongside the installation ‘Flower of Life’, this accompanying exhibition features a suite of derivative works that extend the sculpture’s narrative through a range of materials and techniques — including reliefs, oil paintings, and double-sided embroidered panels crafted from stainless steel yarn. While these works are independent in form, they remain deeply rooted in the central story of ‘Flower of Life’: the transformation of energy, and the ever-shifting relationship between matter and light. Rather than being fixed in space, many of these pieces are movable, evoking liveliness and impermanence.
The embroidered paintings — made from hand-twisted stainless steel threads — can be viewed from both sides, echoing the cyclical nature of energy itself. Meanwhile, the oil paintings on clouds continue a theme and technique the artist has refined over many years.
And yet, none of these works would feel complete without the presence of their quiet collaborator: sunlight. As with the original installation, it is light that activates the work — not simply illuminating it, but becoming part of it.
