Oregon sculptor Ben Dye decided to harness the power of the sun when crafting his “Solar Bloom” flower sculpture, which was unveiled at 12285 SW Main Street in Tigard on Oct. 28.
“The original concept was to have an expanding gas,” Artist Ben Dye told Tigard Life the week before the sculpture’s unveiling. “The solar cell activates a pump, and then there are two tanks: there’s a reservoir tank and then the suspended tank…When the sun goes away, it loses power and the pump quits; it will siphon back automatically to create the cycle.”
To achieve his vision of a flower statue that actually bloomed in sunlight, Dye tweaked his original interest in thermodynamics and instead engineered a solar-powered weight-distribution system, concealing the device inside the 12-foot-tall flower’s Corten steel pot.
Like real flowers, Dye’s device adjusts the copper bulb of the artificial plant based on how much sunlight it’s receiving. Solar panels are attached to the chrome leaves, which branch off a stainless steel stem, and at the center of the flower’s bulb is a vibrant cone filled with multicolored marbles, visible only during full bloom.
“I’ve been on this thing about eight months,” Dye said. “Kinetic sculpture’s pretty competitive, and there’s some guys out there that do some pretty good stuff… I love kinetic stuff, but I don’t want to do rotating wind stuff; I want it to be more interesting and have a deeper thing.”
Tigard’s Downtown Alliance first contacted Dye in November 2025, and he explained that while he knew he was interested in featuring kinetic motion in the design, he carefully weighed feasibility and intentionality when crafting the final iteration of his project.
Dye has previously commissioned artwork for numerous Oregon cities and municipalities including Lake Oswego, Milwaukee and Downtown Tigard; he designed and constructed the iconic “Mobius” sculpture outside of Symposium Coffee in 2010. His latest sculpture, “Celestial Ancestors,” was installed at Portland International Airport in May.
“I try and juggle three a year,” Dye said about his revolving door of projects, which vary in size, scale and aesthetic. In June, Lake Oswego’s Gallery Without Walls recognized Dye and awarded him the 2026 People’s Choice award for his “Pup” sculpture, a small bronze dog that commemorates the importance of man’s best friend.
Dye, who worked as a commercial diver in California before becoming an artist, explained that when he transitioned to full-time sculpting, he strove to express a purposeful direction and signature style in all his artwork.
“Fifteen years ago, when I first decided to ditch diving and jump into art, my specific choice was instead of everything being name recognition… I said I am going to develop a style that you cannot miss at 60 miles an hour going down the freeway,” Dye said.
Dye said he hopes Tigard residents are captivated by the mechanics of his newest installation.
“Let’s say somebody comes by every day a half an hour for their work schedule and it’s always closed,” Dye said. “So then they come by one weekend, and they’re going, ‘Oh! That thing moved!’”
All the materials incorporated into Dye’s design were intended to last 40 years, according to him, who said the moving pieces of the installation complicated its ensured integrity.
“If it moves, it breaks,” Dye said. “That’s the gamble with kinetic: how often you’re going to have to go futz with it… But the reason I chose this system is there are no batteries, you don’t have to plug it in, and there are no switches. The sun hits it, it makes power. The sun goes away, it stops making power.”
Dye said he would be available to maintain the artwork in case of any complications.
Megan De Salvo, Chief Executive Officer of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce, told Tigard Life that the installation was spearheaded by the collaboration between President of the Downtown Alliance Steve DeAngelo and Dye and was excited for the sculpture to be a permanent fixture, saying “it’s the first of its kind in the area.”
