Nature and Nurture at 95 New Bond Street

On 1 August 2021, less than two weeks after England lifted its final COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, LUAP unveiled Nature and Nurture at 95 New Bond Street. The new work by LUAP explores growth, fragility and reflection through the Pink Bear. Installed in a disused retail frontage in the heart of Mayfair, the work emerged during a tentative moment of national reawakening. Streets were open, but uncertainty lingered. In that in-between space, LUAP’s Pink Bear stood quietly in a field of wildflowers—offering a visual moment of reflection, softness and stillness.

The installation, commissioned by Great Portland Estates (GPE), transformed the empty unit into a site-specific piece of public art. Framed by glass, the Pink Bear appears within a stylised jungle setting, inviting passers-by to pause and reconsider the spaces around them. As with much of LUAP’s work, the image is immediately recognisable, but its themes are layered—touching on personal growth, mental wellbeing, and the fragile pace of recovery.

“Life is beautiful but fragile and fast—flowers remind me of this,” LUAP reflects. “So we should try to live each moment to the fullest, like being in full bloom.”

The installation is part of LUAP’s wider practice of placing the Pink Bear in charged or transitional environments. In this case, the familiar retail window becomes a place for emotional grounding, not commerce. By collaborating with GPE, LUAP contributes to a growing conversation around how art can engage with public space in the aftermath of collective pause.

Alongside the installation, LUAP presents a series of works that expand on the themes of nature, memory and inner resilience. Each piece stands alone, but together they form a meditation on how we inhabit time and experience.

‘Searching Through My Memories’ (Oil & Acrylic on Ply, 274 × 183 cm, 2021) reflects the disorientation that can arise from introspection. The painting evokes the feeling of navigating a mental jungle—dense, chaotic, and overgrown. But LUAP reframes that state as vital: “Jungles give us oxygen and nutrients. By changing how we perceive our inner landscape, we stop resisting it and begin to grow.”

‘Aim High’ (Mixed Media Sculpture, 2021) captures the Pink Bear reaching upwards. It’s a figure of optimism, physically and symbolically pushing beyond limitation. The bear offers a high five to the world—celebrating persistence in the face of challenge.

‘There’s Always A Place In My Mind For You’ (Oil & Acrylic on Ply, 150 × 150 cm, 2021) explores the symbolic language of flowers. Used to express everything from love and grief to apology and joy, flowers become here a vehicle for emotional connection—always offered from a place of care.

‘Time Can Escape You’ (Mixed Media Sculpture, 2021) shows the Pink Bear in motion, flowers trailing behind. It reflects on the briefness of our time—how quickly it unravels, but also how much colour and energy we can leave behind if we move with intent. The piece speaks not of loss, but of presence.

‘Purple Starlight’ (C-Type Print, 2019) was created using a seven-second exposure in rural New Zealand. The Pink Bear is illuminated in a field of purple lupins under the Milky Way. It is a quiet moment of cosmic perspective—the individual placed within a landscape that far exceeds comprehension, but still invites wonder.

Taken together, the works in Nature and Nurture explore what it means to grow, adapt and stay present in moments of uncertainty. LUAP’s Pink Bear remains a consistent presence—sometimes isolated, sometimes reaching outward, always evolving. At 95 New Bond Street, the figure holds space not just for art, but for introspection and renewal.