Fragile Items

There is unspoken beauty to be found in this concrete jungle that is Singapore and you’ll find it at the Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom exhibition happening at Gardens by the Bay.

- Allisa Noraini

As I walk into the Cloud Forest conservatory, my eyes are immediately drawn to an imposing floral glass sculpture that’s suspended in the air. The 10m artwork stays perfectly still, juxtaposed against the waterfall where water is crashing down, sending light sprays of mist everywhere. How does one install a gravity-defying 900kg sculpture in the air? More importantly, what goes through the mind of the artist behind it?

I find myself pondering these questions when I visit the Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom exhibition, which is set within Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay. It marks the American-born glass artist’s first major exhibition in Southeast Asia. More than 10 installations are on display, including landmark sculptures such as Moon, which has not been exhibited since its debut in Jerusalem in 2000, and the majestic Setting Sun, which was designed exclusively for Singapore.