Stem by stem is the first artwork collaboration between Amy Thai, Founder and Creative Director of Don de L’Amour and ENESS.

Stem by Stem is a progression of inflatable installation with a natural extension and allure of curated vegetation. This interactivity of anthropomorphised characters, vibrant florals, musical scores, contemporary Japanese cultural motifs, simulations, and immersive technology add an intangible visual dimension, effuse warmth and provoke a more dynamic, less static conversation with viewers. 

Continue reading

Amy Thai’s latest immersive art installation, “Butterfly Habitat”, launches at the Mayflower St. Leonards

A newly released art installation, “Butterfly Habitat”, by founder and creative director of Don de L’Amour and multidisciplinary artist Amy Thai at The Mayflower St. Leonards showcases large-scale floral sculptures partnered with digital media artist Kevin Ly’s moving pictures and augmented reality. 

Behind such lyrical, expressive and rich work, Thai’s success in the world of floristry and art gave her more freedom to pursue creative research and exploration in the digital space. “Butterfly Habitat” is a project that blossomed into more elaborate experiments with florals, generative art and code-based patterning. 

Alongside renowned new media artist Refik Anadol, Thai layers her work with Kevin Ly’s multi-layered graphic projections that produce movements, such as water, fireflies and flocking birds, to highlight the functions of nature. These movements are sequenced by Ly in an elegantly poised model and transforms the sculptures into a multi-sensory experience. This dazzling, kaleidoscopic and immersive work was designed to explore migration patterns of a genus of blue butterflies, and the fluidity and constant shaping of the natural environment and the interior space in which the winged creatures are exhibited. The projection-mapping concept considered by Ly and Thai illuminates on their canvases around the space through the use of innovative light, movement and visual work where the tacit agreement between the materials and audience enables the act of viewing, experiencing and deep engagement.

“Butterfly Habitat” is a unique curatorial and sculptural assemblage, an exercise in synthesis, a durational digital sequence, a harmony of intentions, a visual text that dances, a mapping of relations in nature, an extended conversation and interestingly, a lean into the future. It is made up of two moving parts: a bed of delicate butterflies and a pair of monumental butterfly sculptures.

At eye level, vivid hypercolour prints of sapphire paper monarchs are overlaid with nature-inspired projections emphasising a visceral connection between humanity and nature. Amy Thai’s symbolic gestures and processes that call on the element of impression are often used to produce a galaxy of images that embody the intimate connections between human existence, nature and ecology.

Thai’s works are intentionally layered to impart messages that reflect on experiences of transition and rebirth. Rather than singular visual statements, they are thoughtful objects intersecting with Ly’s projection mapping and interactivity. Thai’s latest installation is where meaning emerges from her sustained meditations.

Each mark-marking gesture is a pitch into eternity – meeting with this moment – indeed in Thai’s philosophy of eternity isn’t anywhere else but here, there is only this moment of now. Such mark-marking draws on one’s presence in the moment, in sites of memory and storytelling and can also be seen in Thai’s detailed orchestration of vibrant prints and hand-sprayed hues, dried florals and foliage, hessian textures and soft pleats. Thai places emphasis on the way the sculptures are suspended to create impressions of natural and soothing flow and movement. Particularly, the pair of butterfly sculptures were welded on a 30 degree angle to mimic the natural flutter of butterfly wings. Such an evocative palette of materials and techniques reimagine the art of floristry, sculpture and digital design on a grand and mesmerising scale.

Conversations between these elements are at the heart of Thai’s practice as a floral designer and visual artist, and the results are visually astounding. “Butterfly Habitat” radiates a spectrum of brilliant colours while interplays with imagination, art and Ly’s technology. Each iteration of the work has been refined and inspired in some type of intangible way by the space and context in which it has been presented, whether through the spirit of the space, the fabric of the architecture, or Thai’s imagined dreamscapes of natural materials and clever ability to innovate what already exists. 

Thai’s latest series of works is a representation of bodies, welded structures and their metamorphoses; the ever-changing relationship between persons and technologies; and the innate connection between bodies and the earth. Here, “Butterfly Habitat” invites the audience to sensorily explore this theme at the Mayflower.

 

 

Continue reading

A new large-scale installation brings an essence of Pop-art cross impressionist coolness to the EY Centre, 200 George st by Mirvac Continue reading

Hybrid

Bold and unexpected with an innate impressionist sensibility 

Lovers of impressionism, abstract and glam rejoice – Amy employs a bold palette in a pack that is both evocative and sensuous inspired by whimsical red and pink poppies. Indulge in the dramatic and sumptuous combination of rich tempting reds and dusty pinks. Amy uses hybrid colour techniques to form natural movements amongst lavish passionate hues and visually reference ‘hybrid’ plants that are naturally or artificially created by manual pollination. The charming space with minimalist lines is met with an unrestrained palette and robust natural materials of thistles, native templetonia and hydrangeas. Amy adds: “Layers of deep red silks are draped in such a way that feels organic and are meticulously handcrafted to echo flow and movement,” “... It’s about navigating the territory between heritage, homage and contemporary design in a way that feels natural to me, not forced.” Her accreditation and experience in fashion design underpins a number of her guiding principles in floristry. With this in mind, Amy employs her multidisciplinary set of skills and a broad range of techniques in the design process. The work serves as a reimagining of visual languages in floristry, fashion and sculpture that were developed and learned over time in between Amy’s travels.

Key colours: Rich deep red, faded terracotta, soft corals and dusky pink

1.9m x 1.1m

Thistles, native templetonia, hydrangea, pleated silk formed into floral shapes

Applied onto metal mesh

Morocco

The starting point for the Mayflower’s palatial look and feel were the vibrant red accents of poppies and tactile pleated silks. The installations for the space were inspired by Founder and Creative Director Amy Thai’s travels, current life and desire to pause and reconnect with the essence of what matters. Hence, neutral hues of creams, whites and primrose yellows and its earthy appeal were called for as emerging key shades to “intuitively flow on from the bold distinctive red.”  The neutrals are soft and sophisticated, with a gently faded finish that exudes stillness and calm like the Moroccan desserts. For the primary colour palette, Amy expressed her love for neutral tones and its symbolic gestures of deserts, its dusky warm tones and soothing subtle textures. Whether it is escaping to the forest, nostalgic memories, or dreams of new beginnings, the installation and space is a refuge from the noise and clamor of modern life and an emphasis on how humanity and nature are inextricably linked.

Amy draws inspiration from intuition and instinct and draws on her ancestral and cultural heritage, personal history, French art history, spirit and the cosmos to develop the work that seeks to engage humanity and nature. Put simply, her way of creating is about connecting into her emotions and responding to what feels right without hesitation. More so, the work is a result of an act of connecting and trusting something that guides her within without the need for her to fully understand it all.

Travel, principles of nature and French art deco with a modern twist shaped Amy’s choices of design. This particular work of floral designer and artist Amy Thai reminds us to slow down to take in the meditative down-to-earth array that is both peaceful and warm and draws on her experiences of living between many European cultures. Amy explains: “When creating this work and any other work, my intention is to lead the way without any intention which means trusting intuition and unconscious forces to guide it all.”

Investigating and discovering the multiplicity of self has remained a central focus in Thai’s practice. These nebulous yet mesmerising sculptural forms references the Western canons of classical art, while at the same time, pitches into something much deeper than what meets the eye - the concept of eternity. Her use of dried hydrangeas, paper daisies, rice flowers, native templetonias and magnolia tree nutshells marks the importance of life cycles and nature’s eternity. Such emphasis on florals marks the presence of the moment and meeting within that moment - indeed Amy believes that eternity isn’t anywhere else but here and now.

Key colours: Yellow, mustard, white, cream

1.6m x 1.1m

Hydrangea, paper daisy, pleated silk, rice flower, native templetonia and magnolia tree nutshell hand made into flowers.

 

Continue reading

For the occasion of NNC Pro Beauty, Don de L’Amour was invited to design, develop and bring to life an installation in our own inimitable styles. The project, titled “Nomad” re-imagines the store’s aesthetic. Seen here is NNC Pro Beauty’s own space as interpreted by Amy Thai. With every hand movement, stitch, warp and weft— “it tells a story on a canvas.” Inspired by nature’s visages - desert grasses, terracotta rises and organic stone textures, Amy reinterprets minimalism in a space, from strong geometric forms to statement-making natural and expressive patterns. Amy embeds her appreciation of the natural world into the design in both subtle and overt ways. The semblance, inspired by symbolic land and sea markings, neutral hues and her memories of idyllic countryside landscape, evokes in full motion. 

The work at hand, that is the interplay between woven thistles, ming ferns, hydrangeas and pleated hessian ribbons, shares Amy’s philosophies of nature and connection and how it informs design. “Nomad is symbolic of eternal flow, unity of the beginning and end, transience and abundance of source energy,” says Amy. Nomad is an ode to harmony - a unity between people, our communities and the world that surrounds us.

All materials are dried and preserved to last up to five years. 

Materials used:

Rice Flowers, Hydrangeas, Ixodias, Ming Ferns, Tiki Ferns, Thistles, Binding Wire and Wire Mesh

 

Continue reading

 

Meet the floral design studio owner who’s bringing a touch of Paris to Sydney

 Read the article here.

Continue reading

Our Founder Amy Thai shares her expert tips to keeping your flowers in tip top shape, plus her recommendation of Sydney's finest florists.

Read the Vogue Living article here.

Continue reading

The vision I had for ‘La Encantada’ is to capture the magic that many of us believe in but few have come to witness. Bespoke Events by Don de L'Amour is designed for the romantics, for the believers and for those who wish to believe in something real.

Understand the vision behind our recent production: the process and purpose behind the work that we do.

Continue reading

Last week, we had the opportunity to work with The Star to deck out all three floors of their Benetti Yacht with a real Christmas tree and hand-crafted Christmas decor for their Christmas in July event. 

With only a week and a half to plan and execute this event, we had to work fast. The brief given was to elevate the space and create a Christmas spirit ambience that was warm and inviting, reminiscent of a traditional European or British winter Christmas. 

Our preparation started with a trip to our supplier’s farm in Goulbourn in search of the perfect Christmas tree for the event. We explored the fields of the quality Christmas trees on our quad bikes with the farm dog, Pip, eventually finding a tree that was the perfect size, shape and colour. After pruning some older pines to use to assemble into Christmas decor, we made our way back to Sydney and began constructing each installation. 

For the event, we created a Christmas pine garland, two wreaths, a decorated tree and a Christmas-inspired centrepiece. Below is a glimpse into the pieces we created for The Star's Christmas in July event. 

Continue reading

When passion drives the work that you do, working weekends is something that you look forward to. 

At Don de L’Amour, our weekend projects are the most exciting ones. Usually, a brand activation, a birthday or a wedding, these projects are the ones that we have the most creative control over and can execute with our full brand vision in mind. We thoroughly enjoy these projects where our passion for the work that we do shines through.  

This past weekend we had an incredible opportunity to work closely with Affinity Diamonds to design a tablescape and decorate all three levels of The Star Sydney’s luxury Benetti Yacht with perfumed roses and delicate sweet peas

When styling and using florals alongside a subject as exquisite as diamonds and jewellery, we focus on simplicity. The aim with the floral arrangements was to create an environment that is subtle on the eyes and worked as a complement to the diamonds. Coming down to the finer details, we were meticulous in creating an authentic garden aesthetic with the use of our signature greenery such as climbing devil’s ivy and trailing jasmine, which added another dimension of scent and organic textures to the showroom. 

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Sam and Isabella at Affinity Diamonds who was also accompanied by the company’s brand ambassador and former Miss World Australia, Erin Holland. We felt the strong synergy between our brands and look forward to working on the next project with the team.

Continue reading