"Woeful Bowlful" reflects the decline of pollinators and agricultural instability through stoneware installations. Drawing from personal experiences in and ongoing connections to beekeeping and agricultural apiculture, Hagen emphasizes the fragile balance between humans and pollinators. The work offers a walk through an exaggerated honeycomb where aesthetically diverse honeycomb-cell and bowl-proportioned forms give way to unfired and degrading fragments, illustrating the potential that empty hives will lead to empty bowls.

This work was first shown in 2023 at Seljak Brand in Highgate Hill, Brisbane for the 2023 Brisbane Art & Design Festival featuring a panel conversation with kindred spirits Peter Breen and Lillian Whitaker — leading to a subsequent collaborative exhibition at the Ipswich Community Gallery in 2024, “Speaking with Bees”.

Special thanks to Barrett Old Mill Honey, Bird & the Bees, and Bee One Third for employing a bee-fascinated artist; family & friends worldwide for immeasurable practice support; Richard deHaan of Clay at the Precinct for his patient and compelling instruction; Jack Fitz-Walker for generous material donations; and Seljak Brand / Five Mile Radius for their shared ethos and shared space.

Additional documentation images available upon request and to be added here in future.