Kara Hamilton’s site-responsive commission is a tribute to what is, what was, and what will be wild. Through sculptural composition, she explores ideas of re-wilding using eco-conscious materials including straw, soil, and plant life.

Two rammed earth plinths emerge from the ground, with stratified surfaces that reference the hidden layers of soil remediation and bioengineering beneath our feet. Embedded in the rammed earth are pieces of beach glass that were collected by Hamilton along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. Atop the plinths, the busts are hand-sculpted in cob, an ancient natural building material. Hamilton imagines these characters engaging in “a reciprocal dialogue with visitors, the landscape, and local non-human inhabitants”. Their features are expressed with salvaged brass musical instruments suggesting a gesture of call and response. One of the two includes a vessel

planted with hyssop, a nectar-rich pollinator that supports local bee and butterfly populations.

The artist’s organic material choices were made intentionally to allow the sculptures to weather and change, and the hyssop to grow over time, evolving alongside their environment. Created as much for pollinators and birds as for human audiences, Hamilton’s work serves as a quiet reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our surroundings.

The busts in Delicate Matter were made by Hamilton during the 2025 Odette Sculptor-in-Residence program with the support of AMPD students—a partnership between LAT and York University. The plinths were made with the support of Aerecura Sustainable Builders.