My studio work and educational projects are informed by sustainability and the celebration of our natural world. Yet it is through the psychological concepts and historical practices of working with cloth manipulation that I can narrate and tell stories. My work stems from exploration into my family tree and my ancient heritage.

Drawing on Quaker ethos and personal values, this work is heavily based on slow everyday acts of life and appreciation for all of ‘God’s’ creations on Earth. Through extensive research into the history and values of the Quakers I have found myself drawn to and actively engaged in 'slow living' informed by inherited practices.

I have access to native Irish plants, and I work with the seasons to harvest natural dyes, scientifically alter the pH level and colour, spin yarn, and weave from what grows in my garden. Deriving from this practice, I have also been inspired to make bio-plastic alternatives to unsustainable plastic buttons and cutlery, using a range of ingredients with seaweed. My local landscape not only supplies natural resources, it draws on my own heritage and ancestral practices as starting points for reference in all of my work.

Brianna Marshall Crowe

Live off the Landscape

she/her

My anthotype and dyed fabric using seaweed and sunlight, 300 x 100cm

My anthotype and dyed fabric using seaweed and sunlight, 300 x 100cm

Anthotype process, bleaching turmeric with sunlight and leaving seaweed shapes

Anthotype process, bleaching turmeric with sunlight and leaving seaweed shapes

Adding a PH altering solution with a paintbrush to darken the colour

Adding a PH altering solution with a paintbrush to darken the colour

Working in the landscape, making from my garden

Working in the landscape, making from my garden

A sample of crochet and yarn that I wove and spun by harvesting and processing corn husks from my garden

A sample of crochet and yarn that I wove and spun by harvesting and processing corn husks from my garden

Taken from my ancestry and heritage, my work is driven by Quaker ethos and values

Taken from my ancestry and heritage, my work is driven by Quaker ethos and values

The table setting, utensils made from the landscape to use in everyday routine

The table setting, utensils made from the landscape to use in everyday routine

The exhibition

The exhibition

Research

Making with seaweed

Making with seaweed

Multiple recipes and testing with bioplastics to make the perfect hardness for cutlery and buttons

Multiple recipes and testing with bioplastics to make the perfect hardness for cutlery and buttons

Teaching Placements

Rockford Manor, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Educate Together Secondary School Wicklow, Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow
Festina Lente, Bray, Co. Wicklow