There is a strange concoction of plastic tubing connected to tree roots coiled in one corner of Sally Shephard's art studio at Port Chalmers.
Adjacent is a book opened to an image of Nasa equipment used on the moon.
A juxtaposed jumble?
The answer is, yes ... and no.
Part of the New Zealand International Science Festival, Shephard's forthcoming exhibition, "Bones of our Bones'', is intended to be an interactive opportunity to engage with issues that range from existential angst to other-world exploration.
The latter theme extends to a recent collaboration with a University of Otago botanist who is working on the germ plasm of Pinus radiata, the intention being to propagate seeds with a view to sowing them on a planet other than Earth.
Although Shephard stresses the idea is not hers, it has germinated her own line of thoughts.
Hence "Bones of our Bones'' plays with notions of colonisation, cloning and genetic engineering.
"I've been researching the oldest tree on Earth, a pine in Sweden,'' Shephard says, adding pines are particularly tolerant to temperature extremes.
"I'm interested in the longevity of trees and trees as symbols. I'm also exploring the idea of the surface of the moon gradually being taken over by something else, such as trees.
"Remember those T-shirts that said 'save the planet'? I was thinking of getting one that had the word 'planet' crossed out and replaced with 'universe'. We are the destroyer of worlds.
"It's this idea of human arrogance. We are becoming more aware of looking for planets that can sustain life ... the possibility of exploring new worlds is a continuing interest of mine.''
Extraterrestrial activity aside, Shephard is exploring other aspects of humankind's relationship with nature.
"I'm quite interested in the German expressionist painters who used the forest as a metaphor for good and evil. Trees have been worshipped for a long time, going back to pagan times.
"The moon, too, has a deep connection with our psyche. The moon is a place of mystery, even if we have landed on it. There is this idea of curiosity, what drives us to go to new places.''
Shephard, who wants her exhibition to be playful and accessible, is incorporating a range of artistic elements, from tactile sculptures (for example the hose-roots hybrid, which can be moved and reshaped), to a floor space where people can play with beads (referencing the luminosity of the moon), to making mono-prints in various forms (which relate to fossils and plants, touching on the idea of longevity).
There will be also be text and images on the wall to explain certain points, as well as trigger the audience's artistic impulses.
"The idea is the words and images might serve as prompts,'' Shephard explains.
"They aren't intended to be educational but will round out the exhibition, to help explain it all.
"It is a risk for an artist to let the audience do it rather than me have total control, but I like the fact I'm sort of in control but not.
"Sometimes it can be intimidating going to an art exhibition or gallery, so I want people to enjoy this, to have an experience rather than just looking.''
Born near Timaru, Shephard trained as a physiotherapist in Dunedin, where she met her English husband, and had a successful career helping rehabilitate people before a serious neck injury in the early 1990s forced a change of direction.
"I had a total career change,'' she reflects.
"I was in my 30s. I used to enjoy meeting different people as a physiotherapist so I think that's why I enjoy interacting with an audience as an artist.
"Also, my training as a physio involved science such as physics and anatomy, which has fed into my work.''
Having lived in England for more than decade before returning to Dunedin with her family in 2005, Shephard lives near Aramoana, where she has a "very cluttered woolshed'' that she is attempting to turn into a studio.
She completed a bachelor of fine arts degree at the Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2008 and recently completed her master's degree, her post-graduate exhibition reflecting a long-held interest in science.
"My exhibition had to do with the surface of plaster and efflorescence, the absorption of dye and things such as quinine and black light. Also, wax was heated and changed through the exhibition.
"I like things that develop, as opposed to static objects.''
The exhibition
As part of the New Zealand International Science Festival, Sally Shephard's interactive exhibition "Bones of our Bones'' opens at Robert Piggott Art Gallery, Dunedin, on Saturday, July 9, and continues until July 16.
