From the turn of the 21st century, Hjorth’s work took on a more majestic dimension in terms of scale. Having spent much of the 1990s sculpting with recycled and obsolescent materials like foundry moulds for sand casting, Hjorth brought her passions — art, anthropology (material cultures) and architecture — together by building houses she called "living sculptures". Deploying entirely recycled materials, these living sculptures were often mistaken by experts as heritage.

​

Her Semaphore living sculpture, completed in 2011, was dedicated to the living memory of her son, chess champion and mathematician, the late Professor Greg Hjorth. The house won a South Australian Heritage award in 2011.