8111 S. Dixie Development Project: Petals of the Moon

Commissioned as part of the 8111 S. Dixie Development Project, Sinta Tantra’s new public artwork continues her exploration into the transformative effects of colour, light and form, responding to the climate and layered histories of West Palm Beach.

Titled Petals of the Moon, the sculpture expands Tantra’s signature visual language, pairing undulating petal-like abstractions with orbs that evoke both botanical life and cosmic expanses. Comprising two slender, upright elements – one in gold leaf, the other in vivid blue – the work appears to grow up from the earth itself. From certain vantage points the forms appear unified, as if they were physically connected or reaching towards each other through space; from others, they separate and realign, offering new compositional arrangements and perspectives.

Visitors are invited to walk around and between the forms, activating the space through their own bodily movement, while openings within the structures serve as portals, offering glimpses of the surrounding landscape that change with the season and time of the day.

Rooted in Tantra’s research into the local context, the sculpture draws on the histories and environments of the neighbourhood. The gold-leaf form references the area’s past as a site of pineapple cultivation, its upright orientation echoing the fruit’s distinctive growth pattern and suggesting a gesture of offering or optimism. The blue element, rendered in a bright, luminous tone, reflects the region’s intricate network of waterways, from ocean to canals, as well as the immediate presence of the nearby canal within the development.

From dawn to dusk, the surfaces respond to shifting light conditions: the gold leaf catches and reflects warmth, while the blue form deepens and brightens with the sky. Evoking yin and yang energies – light and dark, alignment and separation – the work responds to its setting within a transitional space shaped by movement and passage, inviting visitors to pause and reconsider both the surrounding landscape and their own position within it.