Title: Coalescence
Artist: Carly Scoufos
Medium/materials: Handwoven Aluminium Wire
Year installed: 2025
Location: Keysborough Community Hub, 10 Villiers Road, Keysborough
About the Artwork
Coalescence - noun. The mixing of different ideas, influences, or things to make a whole that is different, or new: the joining or merging of elements to form one whole; to grow together.
From every window of the Keysborough Community Hub, there are views of trees and greenery — a constant reminder of the Hub’s deep connection to nature and community. This artwork draws on those surroundings, weaving together plant-inspired forms to reflect both the beauty of the natural world and the strength of people coming together.
The design is based on microscopic plant cells, which combine to form larger structures like leaves. This process, known as coalescence, becomes a metaphor for the Hub itself — a place where people from many cultures, languages, and backgrounds connect, share, and grow stronger together.
“There is a calmness and welcoming energy to the Hub which is helped by the abundance of natural light in the hallways and open spaces and the many views of the green spaces outside. This too is my hope for the artwork, that visitors to the Hub feel a sense of calm. Maybe they are reminded of the forms & tones of nature and the mesmerising quality of moments like watching waves ebb and flow at the beach, looking up at the canopy of a tree or the subtle changes of the sun-setting sky at dusk.” - Carly Scoufos
Interpretation for Children
This artwork is made of tiny woven shapes, like plant cells, joining together to grow into a strong leaf. It’s a bit like the Keysborough Community Hub, where people from many different places and cultures come together to share, connect, and grow.
Plants get their green colour from something called chlorophyll — it helps them turn sunlight into energy. In the same way, the Hub gets its energy from the people who visit.
Now it’s your turn, see:
- What shapes and forms can you see?
- What do they remind you of?
- What name would you give this artwork?
- Does it look rough or smooth, heavy or light?
- If you could shrink down and step inside, what kind of world would you discover?
Read more information
Nearby Artwork and Activities Exploring Themes of Nature
Artwork:TwiggyWiggy, outside the Keysborough Community Hub.
Nature Walks:Keysborough Wetlands, Roth Hetherington Australian Flora Reserve, Coomoora Woodland Flora and Fauna Reserve and Frederick Wachter Reserve.
About the Artist
With more than fifteen years’ experience, Carly Scoufos has created numerous large-scale, site-specific commissions. Each sculpture is meticulously hand-woven from single strands of wire and tailored to its architectural setting, balancing craftsmanship with a sensitivity to place and material.
Carly’s works across sculpture and installation, exploring organic patterns of growth and decay inspired by molecular biology and fluid phenomena. Using hand-woven industrial wire, they adapt textile traditions such as lace making and knitting to create structures that are both delicate and robust. This transformation of rigid materials through handmade techniques produces works that blur the boundaries between drawing and sculpture.
Community/Cultural Context
This artwork reflects the community by symbolising how many different cultures, languages, and backgrounds come together at the Keysborough Community Hub. Just as plant cells join to form something stronger, the Hub unites people to share, connect, and grow — celebrating diversity, inclusion, and the life that emerges when communities gather.
Sustainable and Environmental Practice
The artist maintains a studio, where their practice is guided by a commitment to sustainability and working towards carbon neutrality, planting more than 600 food trees across 20 eucalypt species alongside wattles, wilgas and peach bush. These efforts not only restore vital habitat but also help offset the carbon footprint of transporting and fabricating sculptural works. Through regenerative land management, the artist aligns creative practice with ecological responsibility and renewal.
Artwork Commission
This Sculpture was commissioned as part of the Keysborough Community Hub development. The brief invited artistic concepts for an artistic work that would offer the community an engaging, site-specific artwork that sparks curiosity, wonder, and imagination. Inspired by the local flora and landscape, the permanent sculpture was envisioned to encourage discovery and deepen connection to place.
