The experience of ice-filled landscapes, the greens and density of rainforests, the wilds of the sea and coastline, the wind swept barrenness of moorland, and the contenting picturesque of in-land countryside inspire me to create work that is passionate about environmental issues.

 

Interaction with the landscape can become fascinated with a plant, the shape of a pebble, the historical context of a fossil or the structure of a cell:  juxtaposing the subliminal absorption of a mountain range, the silhouette of a tree line, the contours of a map or the patterns in satellite images.

 

Such perspectives lead to the discovery of a narrative through textile experimentation, drawing, and wonderings in stitch that come to fruition in a ‘garment’. The piece maybe wearable or unwearable but it is then returned to its place of inspiration and photographed in the context of its origin. The photos are exhibited alongside the garment and the artwork that led to its creation.

 

Species decline and global warming are themes that have dominated my practice. Being exposed to the landscape of Greenland at an influential age, and witnessing first-hand glaciers that in only 13 years had dramatically and terrifyingly receded has considerably impacted my portfolio.

 

This direct observation showed the transformation of landscape through the consequence of human behaviour. Occurring on the edge of the Arctic Ice Cap, it was all the more emphasised for the grey bleak aspect of the mineral rich moraine and the seemingly unnatural turquoise glacial lakes that are left behind: exposed from under the ice requiring a number of years to become colonised. This alteration of ancient landscapes at an unprecedented rate, mostly evident in the wilderness, the majority will never see.  I am fascinated in this process that as a dominant species we are recreating landscapes.