OUT OF THE FIRE

“Like the bottlebrush, some Banksias will not shed their seeds unless there is a fire. Indeed, it is almost impossible to remove them from the plant because they are held in hard woody two-valved capsules. But as the flames scorch the branches, the intense heat causes the capsules to open.”

In this course, you will be sculpting a surrealistic Banksia pod, seated on a base of intertwined roots with butterflies emerging from a fissure with some butterflies flying away. This sculpture is created using items you'll find at home as well as typical materials you'd use to create paper flowers.

There have been many seasons and still are, when it has felt as though I was walking through a fire, a situation, that seemed almost too difficult or too impossible to get through, but somehow, in the midst of all that fire, beauty emerges in new and unexpected ways. I kept coming back to the Banksia pod as my inspiration as this hardy plant requires fire in order to grow, much like we do sometimes. 

 I wanted to represent this new and unexpected beauty with soft pastel origami butterflies. Some perched on the edge of the fissure, whilst other have strengthened their wings enough to take flight. Whilst my original concept was to have flowers spilling forth from the fissure, I decided to go back to where my paper art journey began, with the ancient art of origami. 

The decision to include a fissure in the pod, serves to further emphasis the pressure experienced by the pod and almost gives a sense of the butterflies emerging from the pod itself, instead of the capsules. 

My hope is that this process provides a cathartic and momentary reprieve. That this sculpture be a beautiful reminder of not only all you’ve endured but of the unexpected beauty that has emerged from it.