An Inside Look at David Wiseman’s Most Imaginative Work Yet

Wiseman, undaunted, undertook extensive research. One of his most illuminating finds was a photograph of the long-bearded Monet standing before a footbridge almost fully consumed by tangles of wisteria. “In that moment,” Wiseman recalls, “I began to think of the space not as a series of interconnected organic objects, but rather an architectural expression of my work.” He also pondered the seasons and decided to evenly split the artwork into corner quadrants, each depicting flora in bloom that time of year. Further research guided him to the rich imagery of Chinese mythology and seasonal festivals. “I love learning from the culture and narrative of a client,” he tells Galerie, noting how Wong encouraged him to follow his own creative path.

In particular, Wiseman was drawn to a tale about an autumnal holiday honoring Sun WuKong, the mischievous monkey king in the 16th-century epic poem Journey to the West who embarks on an odyssey toward enlightenment in the fictional realm of Flower Fruit Mountain. As his explorations deepened, Wiseman wove the stories within the themes of Giverny blooms and seasonal celebrations, forming a unique narrative that unfolded in his mind. After two and a half years of rigorous research and Seussian sketches, his idea was finally taking shape. Next step: execution. Fortunately, Wiseman’s practice deftly marries innate adventurousness with care for the craft. He and his team built a full-scale replica of Wong’s dining space down to the millimeter in his Frogtown studio, inside which they designed, iterated, and built the installation’s multilayered elements with the utmost precision. 

The entire composition abounds with resplendent visuals and mythological motifs, all rendered in bronze, plaster, and porcelain with painterly panache. Bountiful blooms and frolicking figures weave together within dazzling bronze latticework enveloping the entire room. Each corner gives an impression of its season and rewards close observation with thoughtful details, from the hollyhock and snowdrops gracing the winter corner to the summer section’s mighty dragon—a figure celebrated every June in the famed Dragon Boat Festival—descending from the clouds. He glares angrily at Sun WuKong in the autumnal quadrant, who contemplates the full moon’s reflection on a pond as he dangles from a branch, apropos as the Mid-Autumn Festival is a lunar event celebrated with mooncakes and lanterns. 

To that end, a cascading slip-cast porcelain wisteria chandelier made of 4,000 hand-sculpted petals snakes upward from the spring section and onto the ceiling, illuminating the whole scene. It presides over a freestanding dining table and chairs, also rendered in cast bronze latticework, that sits atop a hand-knotted wool rug with brilliant greens, blues, and purples echoing the metallic patterns. Sculpted plasterwork, meanwhile, backdrops the two Water Lilies, creating a wispy visual akin to what Wiseman describes as “an apparition beginning to emerge and disappear” from an otherwise static wall. “It’s a beautiful story about meditation on natural phenomena,” he says. “I love making these historic mythologies and am interested in creating my own narratives.” 

The installation’s colossal scale, lengthy production time, and immense amount of research also lent itself well to Wiseman painstakingly documenting nearly every step of its creation and reflecting on the materials, processes, and the boundless imagination he wielded to make it a reality. It all comes to light in a new book, titled The Four Seasons of Flower Fruit Mountain after the artwork, that chronicles his journey from start to finish. With photography by Mark Hanauer and an incisive interview by Wiseman’s brother and business partner, Ari, that ventures into his studio and mind, a richly detailed exploration transcending regions and eras emerges.

For Wiseman, the beauty lies in honoring his references while staying true to his palette and passions. “I often imagine Rosaline invited Monet and me to a tea or dinner party,” he muses. “The piece is really about my dialogue with both of them. What would we talk about?” Perhaps they’d riff on the delights of nature’s infinite bounty, no matter what shape it takes.