If the time during 'lockdown' created a desire to escape to nature away from the confines of our homes, how will the world react now we are regaining the freedom to return to ‘normal’? What will the future look like?
My project aims to capture these feelings of uncertainty, creating work for those who understand the importance of nature and value the preservation of it more than ever.
Using the silent forests of Ireland and the life it produces as inspiration, I worked with paper yarns alongside natural dyes, coating samples in bioplastics for added rigidity and texture. My practice sees nature as a source of refuge, while looking to the future in terms of materiality and processes. The intent is to create textiles that bring the ethereal nature of forests into our living spaces – adding a natural element to the room, while possessing a reflective, see-through nature and offering a lens to the future.
Logwood dyed hemp paper woven into fine paper knit
Buckthorn dyed silk paper pattern woven into fine paper knit
Logwood dyed hemp paper blocks contrasting with doubled fine paper knit
Logwood dyed silk paper pattern woven into fine paper knit
Paper weave with buckthorn dyed silk paper and fern silk, with ends of black fine paper and Egyptian cotton
Close up of buckthorn dyed silk paper 3D shapes with fern silk
Contrast of colour between buckthorn and logwood weaving
Woven fabric with Buckthorn dyed silk and paper contrasting with fine white paper and raw silk
Research
Research photography
Primary research drawings