INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- Rebecca Louise Law: Efflorescence transforms the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion into a breathtaking immersive environment. Suspended overhead in cascading layers, the large-scale installation is composed of approximately 37,000 dried flowers and plant elements harvested from across the Newfields campus and combined with over 1,000,000 flowers from the artists' collection.

"Efflorescence perfectly represents the union between art and nature that Newfields is known for,” said Le Monte G. Booker Sr., President and CEO of Newfields. “Bringing this incredible work of contemporary art to the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion shows guests this union right when they walk through our doors and showcases the work of the local organizations and community members that helped bring this work to life.”

Law is renowned for her monumental installations of preserved flowers and plants, transforming them into living archives that celebrate nature while reflecting on cycles of growth, change and renewal.

“Flowers are my paint and I work with space as my canvas, but as you enter any installation you are taken back to nature’s divine beauty. The human soul needs nature and time to appreciate all that the earth provides,” said Law, “Over the past 16 years, I have collected over one million flowers, re-using every flower I work with. Recently this has allowed my installations to be large enough to have a complete experience of nature.”

The title, Efflorescence, refers to the moment a plant blooms or unfolds. In this installation, it also suggests the power of collective creation. Gathered from many places and assembled through the work of many hands, the suspended landscape reflects the connections between people, place and the environment. As guests move beneath the installation, they are invited to slow down, look closely and consider the ways communities and ecosystems are intertwined.

Newfields held a series of Take Part in The Art events over the last several months, encouraging students, volunteers, staff and community members to string thousands of buds together to create elements of the sculpture. These classes invited guests and community members from organizations like Freewheelin’ Community Bikes, Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana and the MLK Center to assemble strands of dried flowers from Law’s own collection of roughly one million flowers, as well as local natural materials. These elements were used in the final installation, giving an Indiana touch to this one-of-a-kind artwork. Through this collaboration, Efflorescence invites guests to experience the beauty, fragility and wonder of the natural world in new and profound ways.

Rebecca Louise Law has had large floral sculptures such as Efflorescence displayed around the world, both in her home country of the United Kingdom and abroad. Life in Death, 2017 at Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens in London, featured a diverse array of floral forms. Community, 2018 at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, drew inspiration from the color field paintings of Mark Rothko. And, The Journey, 2021 at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida, invited guests to immerse themselves in the splendor of nature.

Efflorescence is organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields and will be on view beginning October 23 through Spring 2027.