About
I am a self-taught weaver, combining basket weaving, loom-based constructions and embroidery embellishments. I craft sculptural tapestries and votive soft sculptures which give voice to the unseen, tiny and allegedly unsightly understory of nature. Current projects include a series of wallhangings exploring mycelium networks, woven sculptures of blooming plasmodium-stage Slime Moulds and the development of woven jewellery prioritising wearability for women with Autism.
An enduring focus of my practice is fungi. I have created a series of woven wool ‘mycelium fragment’ wall-hangings; I weave sculptural branching and fusing networks of mycelium using a process of double and triple weaving, bending and stretching the wool to create volume. I draw the filaments of my networks in non-perpendicular warp which allows me to create organic, meandering forms seemingly grown as well as woven.
Another technique I employ is coiled basketweaving. I craft votive soft sculptures drawing on the shapes and patterns of the fungi and protista kingdoms. Through this work, I want to elevate fungi - to argue for and celebrate the uncanny beauty of this overlooked form of life. I am fascinated by the interconnectedness and symbiosis of mycelium and slime moulds and how they complicate the idea and value of individuality through being both one and many. I am inspired by the hope that fungi have to offer as a remedy to human impact on the environment, as a crucial source of carbon capture, as a new building material, and as fundamental to soil health.
My practice is grounded in urgent love for the overlooked natural world, the aesthetics of the imperfect and a belief in a political imperative to encourage joy in the world. I often make bright, colourful work and I enjoy playing with ‘silliness,’ and, at least ostensibly, adopting a tone of lightness. At the same time, my work is serious and allied with mindfulness. It urges us to reevaluate our relationship with the natural world, to venerate the small, slimy or unsightly. I see my work as political in this way, creating objects that are embedded with values to live by, and that inspire and entice.