Sculptural

My contemporary fibre art pieces are varied and use different basketry techniques, including coiling, looping ,twining and plaiting. I incorporate many kinds of plants and plant fibres including tree bark, climbers, perennial plants and some foraged materials. Other pieces incorporate natural cordage made from the plants I grow. All my work aims to capture the textures and colours of the garden or thematically reflect my engagement with the cyclical nature of the gardening year.

My practice is materials -led, with the properties of plant material in its dynamic “living and dying” state being the start of a dialogue between matter and making. I am drawn to plant fibres which are at the edge of workability and where there is often a tension between exerting control through weaving and allowing the materials natural properties to emerge. I enjoy playing close attention to a materials properties as I prepare and use them for weaving with individual variations in leaves or strands being chosen for subtle colour and textural changes. Some of the works here also incorporate objects found or encountered while working in my garden and allotment. My pieces at their simplest level often have a narrative element, referencing a place or a moment in the gardening year. There is also often an underlying conceptual meaning in what I am drawn to create which can reflect personal themes or wider social concerns.

I tend to make work in series, often concurrently. Each series may be exploring a material, a type of basket or a conceptual theme. In the gallery below are examples of several recent series of work.