Oct 28, 2026
Come Closer with Lily Kwong
Lily Kwong is a botanical artist and landscape designer whose living installations invite us to reconnect with the earth and the cycles of renewal that shape us.
Raised among the redwoods of Northern California, Lily grew up deeply connected to nature, but as she moved into adulthood that closeness gradually faded, leaving her with a longing she didn’t immediately recognise: to feel connected to the natural world once more. Finding her way back to nature became more than a return to her childhood roots, sensations and memories: it gave her a sense of purpose, shaping both her creative practice and her perspective on life.
We caught up with Lily to explore what sets her creativity in motion and how intimacy can unfold when we recognise that we are part of something larger than ourselves.
How does intimacy show up in your creative practice?
My work begins with close observation of the natural world—studying the structure of a plant, the conditions that allow it to thrive, the deep web of relationships around it. There is something inherently intimate about working with living materials. You can't impose a vision without first understanding what is already there. I think of my installations as invitations to develop a more personal relationship with the natural world, recognizing ourselves as participants in these larger living systems rather than separate from them.
Do you think of gardens as sensual spaces? What makes a landscape feel intimate to you?
Absolutely. Gardens have an extraordinary capacity to engage the senses, but also to shift our perception of time and space. Landscape informs our consciousness, our connections to our bodies and our community, our sense of identity... What could be more intimate than that? The most compelling spaces offer a sense of refuge while simultaneously connecting us to something much larger and more wild than ourselves.
"Landscape is an inherently embodied art form. It is something you enter, move through, and experience over time." - Lily Kwong.
How do the body and the senses inform the way you experience, and ultimately design, a landscape?
Landscape is an inherently embodied art form. It is something you enter, move through, and experience over time. I create a space through observing my own sensory experience, the conditions in the environment, and the desire to bring the human body back into harmony with the earth's pace.
What have plants taught you about intimacy, connection, or care?
Working with plants has fundamentally shaped my understanding of reciprocity. Care is at the core of a garden, and a deeper connection to the natural environment helps us support the living systems we are part of. Countless relationships, many invisible to us, sustain our world. Mutual dependence and cooperation are essential to these systems and to our shared future. Plants are our great teachers.
What role does desire play in your creative instinct? What draws you toward a place, a plant, or an idea?
Curiosity and wonder have always been the driving forces behind my work. I grew up spending hours in the redwood forests of Northern California, and that early experience of being completely absorbed in a landscape continues to inform my practice. I'm drawn to places that hold a certain mystery, or reveal something about the relationship between ecology, memory, and human experience. Often a project begins with a question, or an encounter with something I don't entirely understand. The creative process becomes a way of exploring that fascination.
"Eros reminds me of the landscapes that first shaped my relationship with the natural world." - Lily Kwong.
Finish the sentence: Intimacy is...
Intimacy is the recognition that we are not separate from the world around us.
Eros or Dawn: which feels most like you, and why?
Eros. It conjures the forest floor - the deep richeness of damp earth with its woody, balsamic fragrance. It reminds me of the landscapes that first shaped my relationship with the natural world.
