New Life
Bronze

Seed germination is a repeating theme within my work explored through different media and techniques. I have spent much time looking at different species of seeds, both edible and inedible in order to catch them at that moment right before the seemingly magical growth starts.

New Life, 2008 in bronze features the cast of my newborn daughter’s hand as if it is growing out of the seed.

New Life
Germinating Seed Timelapse, 2011

This short animated film was created during a residency in Tasmania, Australia. I set up a microscope and camera to film the exact moment when a seed germinates and cracks open the thin shell protecting the inner nutrition which feeds the growing Lupin. To my amazement the seed appears to move across the frame as if it’s a creature like a snail. To emphasis the excitement of the moment and the parallels with our own species’ first moments of life, I have edited a baby’s heartbeat in vitro during childbirth and set this soundtrack to the seed’s extraordinary growth movements observed here.