HELD IN THE SOIL
GROWING PARTNERSHIP WITH HATTIE MOLLOY
NATURE: Living installation, grow-based collaboration
TIMELINE: 2026
SCOPE: Propagation support, cultivation guidance, growing partnership, content partnership
DESIGN PARTNERS: Hattie Molloy, Broached Commissions, Melbourne Art Fair
OVERVIEW:
Held in the Soil was a living installation by floral artist Hattie Molloy, presented at Melbourne Art Fair 2026. The work explored plant life as a process rather than an outcome, growing an immersive installation from seed over time specifically for exhibition. It reflected Molloy’s interest in the unseen stages of growth including the soil, seed, and transformation.
Super Bloom supported Hattie Molloy as a growing partner, providing horticultural expertise, propagation guidance, and cultivation support throughout the development of the installation.
The collaboration was made possible through timing, with Super Bloom already growing material for the Plant Futures garden at MIFGS. This alignment allowed shared resources and growing capacity to support both projects in parallel, strengthening efficiency and experimentation.
Image credit: Phillip Huyhn
‘This installation celebrates that unseen journey. It has a life cycle of its own and has been grown specifically from seed for this event, which makes it especially meaningful. Watching it develop slowly over time, rather than arriving fully formed, is what makes this work so special to me.’
Hattie Molloy, Creative Director
CULTIVATED VALUE
Supporting the Creative Vision
Held in the Soil was led creatively by Hattie Molloy, with Super Bloom providing the infrastructure, horticultural expertise and behind-the-scenes support required to help realise and sustain the project’s artistic vision.
Growing Infrastructure
Super Bloom provided access to its growing facilities in Lara, alongside ongoing support from the Super Bloom team in the care, cultivation and management of the plants throughout the project.
SEED SpecialistS
Super Bloom contributed deep horticultural expertise across seed sourcing, sowing rates, propagation and plant establishment, helping ensure the practical success and viability of the project’s planting outcomes.
Collaborative Care
Super Bloom worked closely with Hattie Molloy throughout the growing process, providing hands-on support and technical guidance that enabled the creative concept to be realised at scale and with confidence.
Community & Stewardship
The project reflects Super Bloom’s broader commitment to nurturing creative practitioners within its community, providing the practical frameworks, knowledge and collaborative support needed to help ambitious plant-based projects and artistic ideas come to life.
SHARING IN THE LIFE CYCLE
The installation was grown from approximately 40 species, with the majority propagated from seed. Each plant was selected for its growth behaviour and interaction within a dynamic system, rather than fixed aesthetic outcomes.
Super Bloom’s ongoing support enabled the installation to be developed over a five-month growing period, with close observation and adjustment as the planting evolved toward exhibition.
The result was a fully grown, site-specific installation for Melbourne Art Fair 2026 that focused on process, care, and time.
Hattie Molloy also shared the project across her own channels, including social media, extending engagement and documenting the work as it developed.
Read our interview with Hattie Molloy
CULTIVATING CREATIVE CAPACITY
The collaboration demonstrates the value of integrating horticultural expertise into artistic production when working with living systems.
It also highlights how overlapping growing programs can create opportunities for shared capacity, enabling ambitious plant-based work to be realised through partnership.