THE pre-tour buzz among native gardeners concerns the garden of sculptors Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli. Since buying a tumbledown 1918 cottage in Altadena seven years ago, they have transformed its large, long lot into what Hessing calls a "site-specific installation." More...
Combining their talents as installation artists, Hessing and Bonfigli sketched and planned the layout of their narrow 150-by-50-foot landscape. "Installation art is simply the transformation of space," Bonfigli explains. "Our training gave us this sense of composition, of having the viewer interact with the space. You have to think and plan beforehand or you may end up having to go back, tear out and redo." More...
"... We concluded our tour at the severely beautiful property of Andreas Hessing and Karen Bonfigli, whose narrow and very deep yard is a paean to the virtues of poured concrete curbs, decomposed granite, native plants and bold art installation. At the top of the grounds sits a low, very thick wall composed of rock in wire caging. At the gap in the wall begins a sinuous path past matilija poppies and sage to a tract of many small concrete house-shaped blocks, while on the other side of the path sits a neat row of big, rusty wheellike discs that look like those huge sprinklers in hay fields..." More...
"... These Altadena sculptors crafted a sprawling field of poppies that draws visitors down a decomposed granite pathway past art fixtures and cacti. A low rock wall enmeshed in wire complements the natural surroundings and defines the front of the property.
A narrow ledge after modest grad- ing exposes layers of river rock and resembles the side of a desert wash, complete with stunted cacti clinging to the slope. Here, sculptures, rocks, and plants paint an artistic compilation of the many faces of nature and our contact with it. ..." More...
Our home sits on a south-facing alluvial fan at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena, California. The property is long and narrow, with a charming cottage in the middle and gardens on each end. A beautiful coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), over one hundred years old, anchors the front garden; little else of the existing garden was worth preserving when we moved in. We are both artists, specializing in site specific installations, both together and individually, that usually explore issues related to California's native plants. More...
