"Forest Flowers 3"
Here is my entry in the VISDA Current Threads 2015: Garden Tapestry exhibition.
Triptychs were accepted as long as each panel fit the specified size.
The first step in the making process was to dye a well worn bed sheet with a number of different coloured earth dyes.
Small torn squares of cloth were wrapped around different sized beans and secured.
The bundles were dyed with earth dyes.
Stitching on these squares became my portable sewing project for a couple of weeks.
Two more bed sheets were dyed with earth dyes.
Different fabric paint colours were trialed on the first bed sheet.
Another layer was added with motifs screen printed with fabric paint.
The hand stitched squares were pinned then moved around to find the right placement.
The three bed sheets were torn into strips, layered and the small squares pinned on the top sheet again.
I decided it needed more squares.
Once their placement was confirmed the small squares were hand stitched in place.
It was a most enjoyable project to work on.
"Forest Flowers 3" is about the role mycorrhizal fungi play in the wellbeing of a forest ecosystem.
The screen printed motifs are drawings of computer generated models of the fungi's growth patterns.
Mushrooms are the fungi's flowers and they are the stitched and appliqued pieces of cloth.
The viewpoint is one where the viewer is in the soil looking up, much like an earthworm's view of the world. The idea is we humans need to shift our way of seeing the natural world if we are to become less invasive and destructive.
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