Botanic Impressions Collection
In 2016 - 2018 I collected windfall leaves and plant materials to create nature prints on paper and fabric. No two prints are the same with this serendipitous printmaking method so when the process is complete it's a bit like unwrapping a gift at Christmas. As each leaf impression was revealed it seemed like nature was whispering a message saying slow down, listen and think long-term. The release of the 2017 report ‘Current status of the koala in Queensland & New South Wales’ for the World Wildlife Fund created a flurry of media attention. I was horrified to learn that koala populations in southeast Queensland were in danger of local extinction and New South Wales populations were also under increasing threat due to weak land clearing laws, I decided to use these works to help raise awareness and to contribute a portion of each sale to the Australian World Wildlife Fund's Koala's Forever conservation program. .
I find it incredible that in the 2021 report on global deforestation fronts, Australia continues to be the only developed country on the list. *
Leaf Prints
The Botanic Impressions Collection is made of four distinctly different series:
Click on individual images to view details.
Fleeting Whispers Series
Botanic prints on paper create ghostly leaf impressions and encourage us to imagine what the trees would say if they could speak.
Echoes of Whispers Series
Delicately stitched leaves are invisibly suspended above ghostly botanic leaf prints creating shadows that echo and amplify the voices of nature.
Hidden Gifts Series
As I researched the effects of habitat loss on other species, I discovered wide ranging studies documenting the incredible and surprising benefits that urban dwellers receive from living plants integrated into urban developments. Botanic prints on silk are overlayed with delicate leaves. Stitched within the suspended leaves is hidden text describing many hidden gifts of nature ranging from health and community to economic and social, that we receive by encouraging nature to flourish within our cities.
Consequences Unheeded Series
Upcycled tea bags and rust dyed paper collage represent the fragile soil devoid of trees, while suspended tree cross-sections highlight the consequences of prioritizing profit over the health of the planet.
