An autobiographical self-portrait formed from a mould of the artist’s face, The Fertility of Ruin transforms the body into a porous habitat. Its fractures were intentionally encouraged but not controlled, allowing chance and material behaviour to participate in the final form.

Fungal growth emerges through the openings of the face, presenting decomposition not as an ending, but as the ground from which another identity can develop. At its base, iridescent forms appear as fragments of crystallised light, representing the gradual return of vitality and the impulse to continue living and creating.

The work reflects the eight years between her first and second sculptures; a period shaped by movement across Australia, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. It is not a portrait of physical likeness, but of a self still being formed.


“Nothing here blooms despite the ruin.
Everything blooms because of it.”