One work · remade over time
Finalist · Sculpture in the Gardens 2026
A slab-built ceramic totem about climate, resilience and renewal—returned to, taken apart and formed again.
The work
Holding Seed began in 2025. The first form did not feel resolved, so the sculpture was set aside.
Returning to another work, Banksia Rising, opened a way forward. Its three seed-pod-like focal forms prompted new sketches, new proportions and a complete remaking of Holding Seed.
Rosby Winery · Mudgee, NSW
Selected from over 300 entries
“Holding Seed considers clay as a vessel of memory. Drawing on the forms of native seed pods and the Australian bush, the sculpture reflects resilience, geological time and the enduring possibility of renewal in a changing climate.”
The remaking
Choose a chapter, or scroll through the full journey. Every image here documents the physical work unless marked otherwise.
01 / 07
2025 · the first form
The original Holding Seed did not yet carry the strength or rhythm the idea required. Rather than force a resolution, the work was paused—and later approached as material for renewal.
The earliest work is part of the story; more archival images can be added here later.
Form to surface
The surface language
Pastel painterly marks are transferred onto each pod, building a surface that feels vivid, weathered and alive.
The palette reflects the vibrancy of spring while carrying the effects of climate change and bushfire. Renewal is present, but never separated from what the landscape has endured.
Work in progressWhere the work is now
The brightest pod’s monoprinted front sits beneath a clear crackle glaze. A diluted white opaque matte glaze, tinted with peach stain, has also been brushed across the front to soften its intensity while allowing the layered marks to remain visible.
On the back, the pod has been reglazed using Linda Bloom’s Lichen recipe as a base over the underglaze. A newly mixed Volcanic Glaze recipe from the same special-effects glaze book is being layered with it, alongside the subtle pink-toned matte wash.
Process films
Short fragments hold the pace and touch that still photographs cannot.
An open chapter
The drawings that reshaped the pod forms will be added when they are available. They will sit between the return to Banksia Rising and the physical remaking—where the change first became visible.
For collectors, curators & curious makers
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