After writing it down yesterday I was talking to an old grad school friend on the phone and I described the set again as Mary Blair meets Roxy Paine. I think it's best in this case just to post images.
Mary Blair- Love the color, mood, whimsy, and the way that the shapes can be both inviting and menacing. I'm borrowing the color palette from the first and third image.




Roxy Paine- Love the hovering foliage- I'm thinking of putting each tree on similar platforms with my own foliage and then putting the platforms on casters so they can move around. His trees are also pretty remarkable- they're menacing yet beautiful and polished.