There's a tunnel in the heart of this new statue

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A new massive public art installation in Fort Lauderdale looks like its straight out of a fairytale. Thrive is the latest artwork of Cape Town-based artist Daniel Popper, and it’s definitely an impressive sight.

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Permanently located outside the residential complex of Las Olas in the Florida city of Fort Lauderdale, Thrive represents the giant head and torso of a woman right as she’s opening her chest– and revealing a fern-covered tunnel passers-by can walk through.

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A picture of the sculpture with a little child heading towards the fern tunnel — Thrive is a public art installation that people can interact with since the statue's chest opens up into a tunnel passersby can walk through © Daniel Popper

Thrive’s creator, artist Daniel Popper told Lonely Planet that the sculpture is eight meters-tall (almost 30 feet), weighs about 14 tonnes and it’s made of concrete reinforced with steel and glass fibres. Daniel explains that “it was created using 3D modelling and giant CNC machines. We cast components into molds and finished on-site”.

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Artworks that people can interact with such as Thrive are not new to artist Daniel Popper, who has made them the staple of his work. According to his website, Daniel is “known globally for his larger-than-life sculptures, and spectacular public art installations”. Most of his pieces have been featured at music festivals and special events and “include collaborations with other artists, technicians and artisans to incorporate electronic music, LED lighting and projection mapping”.

A three-quarters shot of Thrive — Thrive fits perfectly into Daniel Popper's artwork of massive and haunting statues © Daniel Popper

If you’d like to see more of Daniel’s work and other pieces with a vibe similar to Thrive then you can check out his website here and his Instagram page here.

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