In public art, Mark O’Ryan not only returns wood to its original organic form, it is also returned to its important role of providing home to multiple species of fauna and flora.
Public Art
Hourglass tree is a commissioned work for The Greenway, a six kilometre walking and cycling corridor in the Inner west of Sydney. The idea behind Hourglass tree is to also make the Greenway a wildlife corridor.
Based on an old-growth hollowed tree, the form reflects nature’s resilience and strength. The work speaks to the beauty of regrowth, renewal, and regeneration.
Sourced wood from a nearby demolished house is returned to nature and its original organic form. Providing home to multiple species of fauna and flora is specifically relevant to this work, which occupies a space adjacent to an important bush regeneration site and micro bat colony.
The work and its placement may prompt acknowledgement that the origin of all that we build comes from nature, and of the loss of nature that comes with that.
Hourglass Tree invites nature into what we build and will form connections with nature in new and surprising ways.
