‘What is Happening to Me’
2026
Sculpture by the Sea
Bondi, New South Wales
Woven copper, stainless steel, river stones
2.2m (h) x 4.3m (w) x 2.3m (d)
The pod is ambiguous, is it a heart, a womb or a nest. Either way, it is a symbol of gestation, refuge and becoming. The branches of silvery steel holding the woven form taper to points where they reach the earth, they could be branches or antlers or the legs of some malformed insect or crustacean. The material qualities of the work fluctuate.
The industrial and mechanical in tension with the organic softness of the woven form, the ancient, gemlike qualities of the stones in their settings. The work holds the duality of this moment: the existential threats of a disturbed climate, confusing changes in our systems, economic and social, and the arrival on our planet of a new type of intelligence that could be friend or foe. There is an undercurrent of anxiety around, how will things will turn out?
A woven copper pod is suspended on stainless steel branches. River stones, set jewel-like into the weave, protrude like sense organs: eyes, tongues, nipples, giving the piece a sense of aliveness, a pensive existence on a perpetual threshold.
The title comes from the opening of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, in which a man wakes to find himself transformed into a giant insect and must come to terms with what he has become. The work responds to the rapid transformations we are living through; environmental change, economic and political upheaval, and the uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence.
The making
What is Happening to Me is Berman’s first major sculptural work since completing her PhD in 2022. The work brings together Berman’s career as a sculptor, public and environmental artist and jewellery designer.
The artist
Dr Bronwyn Berman lives and works in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Her doctoral research reimagined the ecovillage movement as an environmental art movement as a way to exploring how art orients communities towards a deeper connection with the natural world. Her recent work exploring Eco spirituality now addresses the fragile edge many of us feel we are navigating, in relation to our planet, our communities, and how we might live in an unfolding new world.