Forgotten Flora

Artist Statement

‘Forgotten Flora’ is a continuation of a deeply embodied practice, exploring wool, mental health, the body and nature. I use wool and wet-felting to create sculptures that are both sensuously soft and unyieldingly strong. This tactile and embodied process influences the exploration of vulnerability and intimacy, while developing strategies of conscious care and presence.

This piece was made through the cathartic method of wet-felting; fusing fibres through a meditative and rigorous process of using hot water, soap and friction to facilitate the slow transformation of loose, raw wool into a strong versatile form. Simultaneously meditative and exhausting, the resulting artworks act as vessels for connection. The ambiguous, tactile work symbolises the complex and symbiotic relationship of nature and how humans engage with it.

To be tenderly felt, related to and known, the work allows for the viewer to become familiar with and normalise a seemingly imperfect or uncomfortable form.

Cultivating an ethics of care is vital in navigating a world of turmoil, division and dissociation. Practicing care through touch, learning to accept fragility and the impact we have in the world, can aid in learning how to responsibly hold space for ourselves and others. To handle with care is a daily choice and practice – acknowledging feeling, holding and relating to experiences, by tending to the significance of the senses.