Botanical Weave 2007

The theme of Botanical Weave developed from childhood memories of visiting botanical gardens and experiencing the excitement of entering another world inside the glasshouses. I wanted to produce work that captured the atmosphere of the tropical world of the glasshouses. The intention of the project is to emphasise the natural beauty of the environment, drawing attention to it while encouraging people to appreciate and look after it.

It is a large scale installation piece created with fibre optic, wire, monofilament and hand dyed paper yarn. Each piece of the installation is intricately braided and sculpted with traditional techniques. It is the outcome as well as the process of my work that interests me. How the viewer connects with it and how it encourages self exploration and promotes a sense of well-being is important. The installation was designed for Huddersfield Degree Show 2007. Animportant factor of the work was to be interactive, encouraging others to be inspired by it. As they can stand inside, the sculptural forms surrounded the viewers, stimulating their experience. Everyone takes something different from the work depending on how they interact with it, whether they touch it, and what they experience when they walk through it.

It is versatile work that can be displayed in a gallery setting or in place in botanical garden setting. The piece is made up of individual sculptural forms that, once hung together, form an installation. Each section of the work is hung separately therefore the end result can change to adapt to interact with the space in which it is displayed.