This squat, bulbous, metal forest in South Yarra is my favourite

Natalie King, enterprise professor at the Victorian College of Art, has chosen a favourite local artwork for The Age’s occasional series.

I chose Garden Islands because it’s Kathy Temin’s first public artwork and I was intrigued by how someone who works with soft sculpture would render something for outdoors in the public domain, with the requirements of being sturdy, hardy and permanent.

It’s a squat cluster of trees, made from cast aluminium. I like how there’s a gathering of five, like a family, and then there’s a solo one nearby, a stray or an aberrant one that sits on a base. The trees also reference the topiary and gardens in the Stonnington landscape, so Temin is drawing on the vicinity and nearby habitat.