“Her Choice to Bloom” is a self-portrait shaped not only by time, but by the many ways life changes a woman.

Sculpted from hardwood, painted by hand, then coated and sealed with marble resin, the piece holds both density and softness within its form. The material itself reflects the spirit of the work — carved through pressure, formed with intention, and preserved with care.

The figure appears fuller, grounded, and rooted. Her body speaks of transformation through love, labor, heartbreak, healing, motherhood, memory, and the decision to continue through all of it. Rather than hiding weight, the sculpture honors it — as experience, presence, and strength.

Flowers bloom across her surface not as decoration, but as signs of life still unfolding. They represent softness that remained intact even while adapting to change. The work does not present blooming as perfection, nor as something that arrived easily. It presents blooming as a conscious choice.

Through exaggerated form and reflective surface, Mari Zhar turns the female body into landscape, vessel, and witness. The sculpture invites viewers to see femininity not as fragility, but as something capable of holding both tenderness and power at once.

From the very place that changed her, she still chose to bloom.