Some Of These Artworks Are Still Growing (12 Photos)
By Vidar
Art With Nature.
A bougainvillea completes a portrait, beach stones form George Washington and giant hands hold a living olive tree. Across these 12 works, sand, stones, trees and living plants become part of the art.
More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)
🌺 Blossoming Hair — By Luisfer Guarín in Barranquilla, Colombia 🇨🇴
At Calle 45B and Carrera 13C in La Victoria, Guarín painted an Afro-Colombian woman beneath a trinitaria, or bougainvillea, growing from the house’s patio. According to El Heraldo, the foliage forms her hair. The mural celebrates Afro-Colombian beauty and carries Guarín’s message about climate and our bond with nature.
More: More Murals by Luisfer Guarín
🔗 Follow Luisfer Guarín on Instagram
🌀 “OCTOGON” — By Slama Land Art at Ušće Neretve, Croatia 🇭🇷
Slama Land Art created “OCTOGON” for the first SAN – Sand Art Neretva Festival, held at the mouth of the Neretva from September 17–23, 2021. The work measures about 25 meters across. Slama Land Art describes its nested octagons and stars as a sand drawing inspired by sacred geometry and patterns found in Islamic art.
More: When Artists Play With Nature (12 Photos)
🔗 Follow Slama Land Art on Instagram
🪨 “Refugee 2” — By Justin Bateman in Bangkok, Thailand 🇹🇭
Bateman identifies the work as “Refugee 2”, made in Bangkok from found stones.
💡 Nerd Fact: Bateman typically dismantles his portraits after photographing them and returns the stones to what he calls their “original disorder.” He cites Tibetan sand mandalas, which are deliberately dispersed after completion, as an early influence on this practice.
More: Stone by Stone: Justin Bateman’s Incredible Pebble Portraits in Thailand (12 Photos)
🔗 Follow Justin Bateman on Instagram
🌊 “Grown Stone” — By Jon Foreman at Freshwater West, Wales 🏴
Foreman made “Grown Stone” at Freshwater West on August 29, 2025, using stones gathered from the same beach. He calls it an “organic flow within a square.” The stone clusters cross the straight border, while the shoreline remains in the frame.
More: Jon Foreman Uses Nature Like This (10 Photos)
🔗 Follow Jon Foreman on Instagram
🌌 “Santi Ikto” — By Thomas Dambo in Halls Head, Western Australia 🇦🇺
Part of Dambo’s official Giants of Mandurah project, Santi Ikto was unveiled in November 2022. It was built on site with local technicians and volunteers, using mostly locally sourced recycled timber. Santi Ikto sits at Koolyininap in Halls Head with both arms raised, overlooking the ocean. The pose represents asking the sun to evaporate seawater into clouds so rain can nourish the land.
More: 10 Giant Trolls Hiding in Forests, Lakes and Ruins
🔗 Follow Thomas Dambo on Instagram
🌿 Green Dream — By Cero Catorce in Panchimalco, El Salvador 🇸🇻
Cero Catorce made the mural for Pigmentrip Festival in Panchimalco from May 8–10, 2026. He describes the process as intuitive and experimental, testing new techniques and strokes as he worked. The profile breaks into water, leaves and small points of light.
🔗 Follow Cero Catorce on Instagram
🌺 “Guacheneque” — By Cris Herrera & Mr. Garek in Villapinzón, Colombia 🇨🇴
Painted during the Guacheneque: Camino del Agua public-art festival, held in Villapinzón from April 27–May 3, 2026, the mural pays tribute to the nearby páramo and local people’s relationship with it. Mr. Garek says the hybrid figure is inspired by the páramo tigrillo, with frailejón leaves growing from its skin. The woman embodies the women of Villapinzón—bearers of memory, care and rootedness. Their embrace represents a symbiosis that blurs the boundary between humanity and nature.
💡 Nerd Fact: The Bogotá River rises in the Guacheneque páramo at about 3,300 meters above sea level and runs approximately 380 kilometers before joining the Magdalena River at Girardot.
🔗 Follow Cris Herrera on Instagram and Mr. Garek on Instagram
🪷 “Beyond the Surface” — By Paul Watty in Goirle, Netherlands 🇳🇱
At Melkweg 22, Paul Watty’s 2026 mural shows a dragonfly resting on a water lily. “Beyond the Surface” is one of two Leystromen-commissioned murals built around De Leij as their shared theme. The small river has long shaped Goirle’s landscape.
🔗 Follow Paul Watty on Instagram · 📷 Photo by Rian Nijssen on Instagram
🌿 Face in the Ruins — By Falko Fantastic in Cape Town, South Africa 🇿🇦
Falko Fantastic’s gallery profile says he deliberately seeks out crumbling buildings and makes work that uses the setting. Here, a long opening runs across the painted eyes, showing the real trees behind the wall.
More: “HARDCORE” by Falko Fantastic in Cape Town (3 Photos)
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🤲 “Give” — By Lorenzo Quinn in Pietrasanta, Italy 🇮🇹
Quinn’s own archive records “Give” in Pietrasanta from July to December 2021, after its 2020 preview in Florence’s Boboli Gardens. According to the Uffizi, the hands were made from resin and recycled material. A male and female hand meet around a living olive tree, symbolizing giving, peace and humanity’s relationship with nature.
More: “Support” — A Message About Climate Change by Lorenzo Quinn
🔗 Follow Lorenzo Quinn on Instagram
🌿 “L’Oasis d’Aboukir” — By Patrick Blanc in Paris, France 🇫🇷
At 83 rue d’Aboukir, Blanc covered a previously bare side wall with a vertical garden. His official project archive gives its full subtitle as “Hymne à la Biodiversité,” says it was completed in 2013 and lists 237 plant species.
💡 Nerd Fact: Blanc first conceived the Vertical Garden in the late 1960s as a biological filter for his tropical aquarium. The mature system uses no soil: roots grow in irrigated polyamide felt mounted over a waterproof PVC layer and metal frame.
More: Vertical Garden — By Patrick Blanc in Madrid and Paris
🌳 Rihanna Tree-Hair Mural — By Fábio Gomes Trindade in Trindade, Goiás, Brazil 🇧🇷
At Rua 200 in Setor Sol Dourado, Gomes aligned Rihanna’s painted portrait with an existing tree so its living canopy completes her afro. His original post identifies the subject and location and credits Construvitor as sponsor.
More: How Fábio Gomes Turns Trees into Hair: Stunning Murals in Trindade (8 Photos)
🔗 Follow Fábio Gomes Trindade on Instagram
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