“Florada”

Artist: John Gamache

Birth Place: Ocala, United States of America

Date: 2014

Medium: Steel, automotive paint, and concrete

And now John Gamache will tell you a little bit about Florada:

Hello, my name is John Gamache and I created this exciting and larger-than-life sculpture. It was built for the 2014 Ocala Outdoor Sculpture Competition in Tuscawilla Park, for which it won The People’s Choice Award.

I’m an avid traveler and so far I have visited 25 countries around the world. During my travels I noticed that dandelions seem to grow everywhere, sometimes even in very harsh landscapes and unexpected places. I therefore used the concrete round pipe in the sculpture as a symbol of the flower growing in such an environment. The flower itself is made of eight layers to give a fluffy look to the sheets of steel; the stems are compound tapering tubes that mimic the natural proportions of the plant. Botanically the plant is not correct in all aspects of shape and proportion, but this has been done intentionally so people like you would easily be free to interact without having sharp edges at your eye level.

The sculpture weighs 4,500 pounds and is made up of 30 pieces, although no fasteners can be seen. Since the parts are so large and heavy, I had to make a rig that would allow nearly all the leaves to be suspended before I attached them. When it came to positioning and assembling the sculpture, heavy equipment was required both when placing it in the lake at Tuscawilla Park as well as here at the museum.

Fun Fact: The ladybug on the stem is my signature.