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Two new gardens unveiled at Cornerstone

 Two new installations by world renowned landscape artist Andy Cao will officially open at Cornerstone Sonoma.

Cao's vision was to create two rare, contemporary interpretations of the usually traditional "Asian Garden." The first project, "Red Lantern," specifically references the Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad.

The eggshell-lacquered lantern featured in the installation touches on Cao's Vietnamese heritage, and is a nod to ornamental headdresses.

The second installation, titled "Bai Yun" or "White Cloud" touches on the ephemeral "appearing and departure" of clouds so frequently depicted in Asian art and poetry. Floating over a rolling landform lush with tall grass and wildflowers, "Bai Yun" will be hung with thousands of droplet crystals shimmering to catch the changing light from morning to moonlight.

Cao is assisted by his design partner, Xavier Perrot, who is based in Paris and was the 2008 recipient of the "Young Designer of the Year" award by the French Ministry of Culture.

Prior to these projects, Cao was the winner of the 2010/2011 Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His previous Cornerstone Sonoma work was titled "Lullaby Garden" which was unveiled in 2004, the same year Cornerstone was established.

The design team of Cao and Perrot Studio has offices in Los Angeles and Paris.

The design team has created works all around the world, and has been receiving international awards and acclaim since the year 2000.

In 2009, they won an international competition to design the new 600-acre Guangming Central Park in Shenzhen, China. They have created installations in Texas, Washington, California and Paris.

The gardens at Cornerstone are open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Located at 25470 Arnold Drive/Highway 121, the Cornerstone center also includes a gourmet restaurant, two wine tasting rooms, art galleries and design shops.