Valley of a Thousand Plants is an immersive installation where audiences are surrounded by a cornucopia of local plants, re-imagined as hyper-real animated forms.

The visual aesthetic takes the bizarre shapes and beautiful patterns found in the region and combines them with decorative colours and textures like neon and gold, the result is a visual world that situates itself in between the built and natural environments.

The experience makes use of MAP Mima’s amazing surround sound and projection facilities. Audiences will feel they are entering a dense greenhouse full of oversized plants, overflowing with flowering bulbs that have taken over the space. Audience members of all ages can engage with the plants by walking around the space to trigger the plants to come to life and blossom before their eyes.

The title of the work comes from a study by Terence Annable and Howard Fisher in 2014, which discusses the unique ecological makeup of the region, specifically in Dora Creek. This project brings a decorative response to the ecological wonder of the area that is accessible to all and encourages discovery.

The Lake Macquarie region is renowned for its flora, with thousands of native species inhabiting the area. Zika became fascinated with some of the more uniquely shaped plants that are endemic to the area and are enthralling to see close-ups.