Recycled magazines & newspapers on paper

51 x 60cm

2020

Unframed

Unique

Life in the Undergrowth was a project I developed during lockdown, inspired by small hidden worlds in my garden that often get overlooked. It became a circular process - garden feeding art and art feeding garden.

Appreciating, observing and attending to nature seemed vital. My garden, until then somewhat neglected, became my world and route to wellbeing, providing a sense of peace and purpose. While resurrecting my veggie patch, a fascination with the entanglement of roots, worms and shoots in upturned turf led to experimental responses using to-hand materials and found objects. I drew the knotted clumps, and made this collage.

Dried duckweed from my pond, bleached by the sun, became paper; handmade tools from plant debris generated drawings and sculptural works evolved. I find something poignant and vital in these entangled knots - lines of interconnectedness, ‘critters entwined in myriad unfinished configurations…’ (Donna Haraway).