Inflorescent, Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, 1999 (image — Neil Roberts)
Taking refuge from a blazing sunny day, it took some time to adjust our eyes to the dim light inside the Macleay Museum. Upstairs in a space between the display cases the contours of a female nude were barely visible. The only disturbance to the figure’s quiet repose on a chaise longue was the gentle rhythmic movement of a fan across her body. As it moved with the regular deliberations of a radar beam, curious phosphorescent surface inscriptions emerged and receded across the body’s surface. The markings were fine tracings of cycads, an ancient species valued as ornamental, conservatory plants.
(from the essay by Mary Roberts in Flesh Winnow)