Sapling is a variation on Patricia Piccinini’s decade-long work with bio-ethics and hybrid, other-than-human forms. It depicts a plant-like creature, with a face made of foliage, sitting atop the shoulders of a smiling man. This relationship potentially could be paternal; that’s what fathers do with their children. Within the stillness of familial love, the underlying question for Piccinini is this: ‘Is it possible to have a paternal nurturing relationship with a kind of plant?’