Living Sculpture

In an intimate courtyard between Manhattan’s Soho, Chinatown, and the East Village, tall tangles of orange rosehips and delicate bittersweet climb upward. This outdoor installation, created by April Johnson, greets visitors to the TOAST Nolita community garden – an expressive acknowledgement of the changing seasons in a city that follows its own rhythm.

“The installation was inspired by the idea of quiet transformation: how nature can overtake, reclaim, and soften built environments,” explains April, also known by her studio name, Flowerpsycho. “I wanted the piece to feel immersive yet contemplative, inviting passersby to slow down and notice the subtleties of the texture and movement.”

Having been drawn to sculpture and art from an early age, April “came to flowers through art, rather than floristry.” She found it a natural intersection of her creative interests, “a way to make living sculpture – something immediate and sensory. Over time, it evolved into its own language.” Her practice unites unexpected materials with nontraditional forms, evoking the poetry of the natural world.

Designed as a counterpoint to its concrete surroundings, her botanical sculpture at the TOAST New York Nolita shop channels an organic unruliness, breaking out in colour and wild, twisted limbs against Manhattan’s orderly grid. April chose flowers and foliage in warm, blood orange and clementine shades, in response to the tawny leaves settling over the city. “I imagined wild rosehips and bittersweet weaving through the space, adding warmth and a sense of transition.”

April’s compositions are shaped in response to their environment, following natural lines to create flow that feels in keeping with the space. Her latest work serves as an extension of the values we communicate in our Nolita shop and each of our other locations, both physical and digital. As April puts it, “The TOAST installation is less about decoration, and more about craft, emotion, and atmosphere.”

Visit the community garden at our TOAST New York Nolita shop until Sun 30 November to view the installation.

April wears the Hand Knitted Marl Beanie and Donegal Merino Neckerchief Cardigan.

Photography by Youn Kim.