Weaving more-than-human connections in Danelle Heenop and Juan Steyn’s The nest and Jo Roets’s Nest series

Stairways and Ruins

Abstract

In The nest sound installation series by Danelle Heenop and Juan Steyn, created for the Stairways and Ruins exhibition (2023), five structures depict the ruins of non-human animal housing structures. Bird nests are recreated in ghostly white and earth tones in The core, Masks, The conflict, Abandoned and The confrontation, each with a unique soundtrack. A parallel can be drawn between these works and Jo Roets’s air-drying clay sculptures for the Elegy exhibition (2024), which also include intricately woven bird nests. Roets emphasises the search for hidden connections to self, other people and nature in her work. Recently more-than-human connections have increasingly drawn attention as people are confronted with the effects of climate change and the impact of human activities on the environment. In this article, I argue that Heenop and Steyn’s The nest sound installation series and Roets’s Nest sculptures evoke experiences of loss and transience, with the inherent vulnerability of being on Earth connecting various more-than-human forms of existence, highlighting the interrelationship between humans and non-human agents. This focus on making hidden, often overlooked connections visible is informed by Sol Plaatje’s emphasis on the desire to return to ruins or to what remains.