CORAL BLEACHING, REFLECTING A LOST PAST
Using white marble Jesmonite, evocative of mausoleums and memorial architecture, five fragments of bleached coral are repeatedly cast to form simulated coral plates. Enclosed within a cube of pink mirrored acrylic, the casts multiply into infinite reflections, immersing the viewer in an endless reef. The pink interior evokes the vivid colour once synonymous with living coral, transforming absence into a spectral presence.
Rather than replicating nature, the work constructs a poetic fiction—a memorial to an ecosystem in decline. The artificial reef foregrounds the tension between natural and human-made environments, inviting contemplation on the ways in which processes of extraction, construction and consumption have reshaped the living world. Through repetition, simulation and reflection, the installation considers how human intervention can both preserve memory and accelerate loss.
The work responds to the ongoing crisis facing coral reefs worldwide. In 2024, the planet experienced its fourth global mass coral bleaching event, the most extensive ever recorded, with more than half of the world's coral reef areas affected. The installation stands as both an elegy for disappearing ecosystems and a meditation on the fragile relationship between permanence, memory and environmental change.
Above, video of immersive installation and photo of sculpture in cube.
Below left, picture of mirrored infintiy cube, Below right infinite reflections.
CORAL BLEACHING, REFLECTING A LOST PAST
Using white marble Jesmonite, evocative of mausoleums and memorial architecture, five fragments of bleached coral are repeatedly cast to form simulated coral plates. Enclosed within a cube of pink mirrored acrylic, the casts multiply into infinite reflections, immersing the viewer in an endless reef. The pink interior evokes the vivid colour once synonymous with living coral, transforming absence into a spectral presence.
Rather than replicating nature, the work constructs a poetic fiction—a memorial to an ecosystem in decline. The artificial reef foregrounds the tension between natural and human-made environments, inviting contemplation on the ways in which processes of extraction, construction and consumption have reshaped the living world. Through repetition, simulation and reflection, the installation considers how human intervention can both preserve memory and accelerate loss.
The work responds to the ongoing crisis facing coral reefs worldwide. In 2024, the planet experienced its fourth global mass coral bleaching event, the most extensive ever recorded, with more than half of the world's coral reef areas affected. The installation stands as both an elegy for disappearing ecosystems and a meditation on the fragile relationship between permanence, memory and environmental change.
Above,video of immersive installation.
Below, photo of sculpture in cube.
Below, picture of mirrored infinity cube,
Bleached coral sculpture infinitely reflected in mirror cube.
CORAL BLEACHING, REFLECTING A LOST PAST
Using white marble Jesmonite, evocative of mausoleums and memorial architecture, five fragments of bleached coral are repeatedly cast to form simulated coral plates. Enclosed within a cube of pink mirrored acrylic, the casts multiply into infinite reflections, immersing the viewer in an endless reef. The pink interior evokes the vivid colour once synonymous with living coral, transforming absence into a spectral presence.
Rather than replicating nature, the work constructs a poetic fiction—a memorial to an ecosystem in decline. The artificial reef foregrounds the tension between natural and human-made environments, inviting contemplation on the ways in which processes of extraction, construction and consumption have reshaped the living world. Through repetition, simulation and reflection, the installation considers how human intervention can both preserve memory and accelerate loss.
The work responds to the ongoing crisis facing coral reefs worldwide. In 2024, the planet experienced its fourth global mass coral bleaching event, the most extensive ever recorded, with more than half of the world's coral reef areas affected. The installation stands as both an elegy for disappearing ecosystems and a meditation on the fragile relationship between permanence, memory and environmental change.
Video of looking into the mirror cube to view immersive installation, above
Sculpture of bleached coral in mirror cube, below.
Below, empty mirror cube with infinite reflections.
Below, infinite reflections of bleached coral sculpture.