It grows and grows

A sculptural textile artwork which evolved out of a series of four community workshops supported by Lakeland Arts and based at The Blackwell Arts and Crafts House in Cumbria. By using several techniques such as Japanese Hapazome and Shibori, bundle dyeing and block printing we transferred leaves, flowers, natural inks and dyes onto recycled cotton.

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Working with plant-based matter we considered how the arts and crafts movement was influenced by forms and patterns found in nature.

We looked at the hexagon shape which exists naturally in the micro and the macro: in the molecular shape of human and plant hormones, in bubbles and bee hives and represents the non-hierarchy of matter.  Clustering that suggests networks, community and reciprocity…

We explored the arts and crafts movement’s connections to ideals of socialism: tracing how division of the land and land ownership gave rise to capitalism and how these developments are now causing depletion of the earth’s natural resources.