The Seed Sphinx (Spring/Summer 2025) is an ephemeral rammed earth sculpture, packed with seeds, created for the Burgoyne Bay Community Garden on Salt Spring Island. 

This ongoing project is shaped by research and practice with seed bombs, rammed earth, ephemeral sculpture and the use of sentinals (gargoyles and other fantasy animals) for architectural adornment and symbolic protection.

All materials were locally sourced within a kilometer of the garden. Aged compost, manure, clay, sand, crushed eggshells, and wildflower seeds—were shaped into a sentinel-like sphinx form that bloomed for three months, exposed to weather and rain. As the structure grew stems out of the head, back and tail of the Sphinx, the structure transformed over the summer.

In the Fall, seeds will be collected from the blooms, with the rest of the soil returning to the earth as part of the garden bed where it lies. I think of this work as a regenerative sculpture and living installation. An experiment in how ephemeral and seasonal art practices can engage with ecological communities.

This project was supported by a Catalyst Grant from Salt Spring Arts and the Wilding Foundation. I’m deeply grateful both the Foundation and to the gardeners and broader community at Bourgoyne Valley for welcoming this little experiment into the landscape. Designs for future outdoor sculptures are in process due to requests for the Sphinx’ return.