Wonderland

Not all public art is funded by the public. Wonderland, commissioned by Encana, is a larger than life sculpture of a girl’s head located on the Bow Tower plaza representing the hopes and dreams of young Albertans and the youthful energy of its tenants. This impressive 12-metres high bent wire enigmatic bust is bound to catch your eye as it gazes serenely towards the city centre.

Spanish Artist and sculptor Jaume Plensa, who also created Alberta’s Dream, vision for Wonderland is to inspire everyone who experiences the sculpture. Plensa spawned an environment for us to explore the architecture of our bodies, which is the palace for our dreams according to Jaume. There are even two entrances for people to interactively explore the possibilities of their desires inside the sculpture.

From a distance, the steel mesh structure seems to be an almost opaque solid surface with soft curves and contours modelled after a young Spanish girl. As you get closer the sense of solidity dissipates into an abstract wire mesh grid resembling a map of a human head. Gazing out from the inside of the grid inspires one to conjecture on all the possibilities of achieving their dreams.

This is definitely one of Calgary’s more unique mind-stimulating public artwork sculptures that one should explore. Even though it may make one may feel insignificant in the large city, it will inspire one to realize that their dreams are larger than that. Get inspired to fulfill your dreams.