With Shooshie’s endearment towards wood, comes the unfortunate accompaniment of termites. While we know now that they can’t eat through hard woods like chengal, softer woods that are often used as ornamentation or non-structural beams—especially in the older wooden homes in Malaysia—fall prey to these termites quite easily.
For Shooshie, termites, like the cemetries (see: Kubur) and banyan trees, seem to follow her wherever she goes. Making peace with the fact that they are merely nature’s own interventions, she has begun collecting these mazes from each house she finds them in, regaling as artworks in themselves, and in most cases, termites as consistent collaborators to her own work.
Excavated Termite Mazes
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Pottery
As an experiment, in 2024 Shooshie was able to dig up a termite maze from the backyard of Muar House, which she shared with young potter, Syamir (@temukraf on Instagram) who turned it into beautiful ceramic pieces.
Syamir is based in Negeri Sembilan and centres his practice on engaging with every possible step of making ceramic ware—from sourcing local clay, processing, making and firing in a DIY Kiln in his backyard. Syamir shared that he was a self-trained potter whose forms draw from his training as an architect. His pieces are reflective of the intuitive, hands-on nature of his practice.