IMMORTAL SOIL.
Images + words by Scout.
Written + Published for Northern Rivers Independent Press.
The Earth is their church and nature their playground in which they can fully submerge themselves. Biomimicry, it's the practice of using the natural to create art forms and this is what Immortal Soil does so well…
With a divine passion at heart for all things alive, dead & growing, Bob Horan and Selena Murray’s combined neurosis and quaint attention to detail have together birthed Immortal Soil. Based in the surrounds of the Northern Rivers these two are presented with the endless ability to create utilising things that people generally bypass, cut down or poison. A beautiful collaboration between the underappreciated and the overgrown which results in their large scale, site-specific impermanent botanical sculptures.
Utilising things that have been found, scavenged, bought and borrowed, Immortal Soil creates magic in the form of art. Operating for only a short three or so years, the impact these two have had on the community and surrounds is immense. They have created a name for themselves through pieces that are so unique and withhold a legacy that will carry throughout generations. Their work ranges from large-scale installation pieces, immersive talks and hands on workshops, these two have found an abundance in a lifetime of creating.
“The beauty of the natural world is always around us,
we all just need to open our eyes…”
I had the pleasure of being welcomed into their home where we chatted all things art over a cup of peppermint tea…
It is a gloomy day. The kind of day you want to spend in bed. I jumped in my Toyota Camry excited for what was to come and headed South of Lismore to a small rural town called Wyrallah. Winding through the flood effect planes and over an obnoxiously exaggerated bridge I found myself situated in a paddock surrounded by calves and their mothers following closely.
‘ Take a sharp left at the blue wombat sitting on top of a rubbish mound, google maps sends you on the wrong journey.’ A wild goose chase more like it. Built along the banks of the Wilson River is a white farmhouse where these two-call home.
I am greeted instantly by two ragged farm dogs; Bugsy and Ollie who circle around my legs as an informal hello! Followed by both Selena and Bob, perched up on their front porch with welcoming grins. They take me inside. Exactly how I imagined it, I thought to myself. Instantly I am surrounded by Bric-a-Brac that has been collected, gathered and hoarded (in the best way) by these two over the years. A collaboration of ‘Incense’ by Comme De Garcon and freshly picked vanilla orchards infiltrated my senses - transforming me to a familiar yet so distant memory.
Perched on art deco leather armchairs and couch; Selena and Bob opposite each other with the dogs occupying the remaining space, I sprawl across the Persian rug at their feet. One of the many things I have found to appreciate about Selena is her eclectic style so different to any other, but even more so her carefree and not precious nature. This point of admiration becomes more evident as I sit here in her home.
SCOUT:
Tell me how you two met?
BOB:
We met properly at the Sydney flower market. I was working selling roses and Selena was buying everything but roses… and that shat me to tears. I needed to find out who the hell she was. She owned a restaurant in Redfern, and I owned a flower shop in Darlinghurst and so our paths just never quite crossed but that's where it all blossomed!
SCOUT:
Before Bob, where were you in your life Selena?
SELENA:
I was a mess. I had just sold my restaurant and I was kind of working out what the next thing was. I was living down near Wollongong, I had moved out of the city and was living down South working out the next trajectory…
SCOUT:
And Bob, before Selena what did life entail?
BOB:
I was working on a rose farm; I had been there for 10 years. I was pretty over it to be honest, but I didn’t really know what, where and how. I was helping other people succeed and my heart wasn’t really in it to be honest.
When I met Selena, she was excited about flowers. That sort of rubbed off on me again…
SCOUT:
and how did ‘Immortal Soil’ get thrown into the mix?
BOB:
I guess Selena had a bit of a business doing flowers. But she never wanted to conform to the way it was supposed to be done…
SELENA:
I tried but that's not my forte. Something wasn’t jelling.
BOB:
And the Covid happened, and we thought we were just going to do whatever the hell we wanted to do. Thats when we started finding the burnt-out cars in Dunoon. We just went forward and did what we wanted to do, and it evolved out of that. I guess that is the principle of it… we do what we want to do with the produce that we want to use and not fall into the brief.
SCOUT:
How do you two work collaborating?
BOB:
I think we work really well together… I mean we are a couple obviously and we like to bicker…
SELENA:
We are both stubborn, which can be hard but also a great thing.
BOB:
We both have different strengths.
We both don’t like to talk about projects. Selena usually draws and is quite visual. We do talk about feeling… what feelings we want the piece to evoke… it often starts with that.
We do like to joke about if we can’t talk then we have to act it out in a mime, which is a good laugh but doesn’t get us anywhere. It's a good fusion if there is tension or anxiety.
SCOUT:
How do you find navigating this practice in the N.R?
BOB:
I couldn’t imagine doing this anywhere else. This is our complete inspiration and the produce that we want to use is completely abundant and we will never get through it in our lifetime.
SELENA:
The nature is crazy. You can be in one place, and it's dry and raspy and next minute be in a sub-tropical environment. I think people are moving here because it is the kind of lifestyle of being closer to nature. Which is so different to the city, which is a constant grind with no time to stop and feel where you are.
SCOUT:
Walk me through the practice of creating…
BOB:
Well, we always look at what is abundant, I guess. So, we look back to nature and the landscape to see what our options are. We also look at what time frame it will be up for… important as we don’t want the piece to completely rot in front of your eyes. And then there is considering the structural integrity. Are we going to hang it? Are we going to build it from the ground? Most of the stuff we use is alive to some degree, but the artwork itself is almost like a creature so we start with an internal wire skeleton and build from there…
SELENA:
One of the most exciting things about doing what we do is going out and finding. Finding the resources that we are going to use.
SCOUT:
Where do you source the majority of your materials?
BOB:
The majority are from the side of the road. Places where people just keep slashing it, killing it or trying to kill it with weed killers. We also have access to our own property and have also just met some amazing older people in the community who are involved in the growing process and are thankfully really generous.
SCOUT:
Tell me about your home?
SELENA:
We have been here just over a year now. We love it. I reckon it's the first house that feels like home.
BOB:
When you are living in the N.R and renting you know there are not many guarantees, but we finally feel safe and secure - our landlord is amazing, our real estate agent is equally amazing. You know, we have the go ahead to unpack everything and create a home.
SCOUT:
Except for if that river comes up…
SELENA:
We’ve discussed that, and it sounds terrible because of the tragedy that we all went through with the floods, but I think before we moved in, we had that discussion of what if’s because this place was done by the floods and it's kind of a cathartic feeling well for me because I collect…
BOB:
Hoard…
SELENA:
Trying to be more of a collector…
BOB:
It was absolutely horrid what happened to a lot of people, and it brings it back to what is actually important to us? Each other and our pets.
SCOUT:
What is your favourite thing you own?
BOB:
I feel like I am kind of detached from my things now, I do have a tendency to collect tiny things… I am bit obsessed with it. Like tiny frying pans with an egg in them. I love the dynamics and aspect of doing our big intimations, but I have the tendency to do tiny un-seen things.
SELENA:
Thats where your skill comes in… fashioning tiny little details. One of my favorite things is my taxidermies cat to be honest. I’ve had that for soooo long. Everyone fucking hates it. People either love it or hate it… usually hate it.
SCOUT:
Alright, something you both dislike of each other but have never admitted?
BOB:
I feel like we have worked through everything we don’t like. We are married. I know what yours is that you hate Selena but it’s not mine, it’s Ollies...
SELENA:
...that stupid stuffed cat… I bought it for Ollie... it's just an eye sore in this home.
BOB:
The toy that Selena bought for Ollie, and he has completely disemboweled it.
SELENA:
It's just an eye sore in this home.
BOB:
I've gotten rid of all the things that Selena hates…
