Melissa Mathieson x Melbourne Central

As 2026 dawns, we’re hoping the year is full of as much whimsy as in Melissa Mathieson‘s incredible inflatable installation created for Melbourne Central Mall. Working closely with the wonderful teams at GPT and Dot Dot Dash, Melissa realised her largest installation to date!

Customers are invited to step into the flourishing world of creativity, colour and wonder at the installation titled ‘BLOOM’ by Melissa, with visitors of all ages exploring, interacting and discovering something new at every turn.

Suspended within the the iconic Shot Tower until February 2nd, Melissa’s garden is blossoming with her unbelievably cute cast of characters and vibrant greenery wrapping upwards filling the space. The larger than life display is a must visit destination this Summer!
The cuteness and awe-inspiring installation didn’t stop there, Melissa’s incredible BLOOM merch stand could be found down below the soaring summer garden. It was here Melissa offered up a little take-home slice of BLOOM to shoppers via her playful merchandise selection. Available from the BLOOM greenhouse were limited edition plushies, hats, totes, key rings and even some wrapping paper!

Melissa worked for most of 2025 to bring this entire projects to life. Taking her initial concept sketches and breathing life into this via 3D software, to communicating with the Dot Dot Dash team and local manufacturers in order to produce the cast of inflatable characters. There was then the need for something tangible customers of Melbourne Central could take home and interact with, so Melissa designed her own BLOOM merchandise items.
Melissa reflects on this opportunity and what it meant to her:

I felt really in my element creating “Bloom”, an installation that is filled with larger-than-life characters and bubbly flowers. Since most of my work lives in a digital space, it was such a joy to see people casually interacting with it in real life.

This was my first time creating merchandise for an exhibition, which was really a highlight of the project for me – thinking of what sort of items people would want to have in their daily life. Creating something for an iconic space like the Melbourne Central Shot Tower truly felt like a dream!

If you want to hear a little more about Melissa’s experience creating BLOOM and her inspirations then head over to the Melbourne Central website for a Q&A with the artist. Also, if you’re feeling inspired by Melissa’s work and want to see more, then take a peek at her wider folio here!