I salvage the wing of a Tawny frogmouth on the side of the road. When I discover a piece of driftwood washed onto a south coast beach, I know it is where the wing belongs. Together they form a connected pattern of soft feather and hard bark: a resilient memory of life that also honours the role of death. I sculpt porcelain vessels, a community that observes, and in observing knows that we are all part of the nature of things. Through this connection we are one being, never departed and never alone.

'Bonds' was created as a reflection on working in age care (low and high care). The strings, knots and ties the small macrame was made of, highlights the many connections that are important to the physical, emotional and psychological welfare of the individuals. The enlarged shadow is an exstension of those connections, but the shadow also indicates the larger network and encounters associated with caring that are often indirect or forgotten.

My artwork is a negative-space image demonstrating the bonded connection between a dedicated palliative carer and the terminally ill, here depicted as an infant child. The logo on the arm could be modified to carry the Palliative Care Australia logo.

Frangapani for Life is reflective of my own feelings for my mother and my connection to the community I live within. Mum lived in the tropics for all of her life, the frangapani is representative of mums community roots. My mother had the strength to withstand tough challenges and we shared an intense love and a ever lasting bond as not just mother and daughter but best friends. Her spirit and immortality through my artwork will span multiple lifetimes. My artworks message is; Being delicate and beautiful doesn't mean you are weak or incapable of rising to meet a challenge.

This photo I took last September of my Pop (91 here) and my dying father (61 here) highlights the solitude in the connection with community we felt while we cared for our dad. We always felt this through our family, friends, palliative care nurses and everyone who loved him.

The things in my photo are death in nature like bark, leaves and a tree. The community see it everyday and don't think about it. It can be beautiful especially to children like me and I think this is a good way to talk about it more and connect us, especially when you have older people or sick people so that we can be part of the conversation too. Thank you for letting me enter.