of the forest floor

Textile installation | Glenbower Wood, Killeagh, Co. Cork | May Sunday 2024

Using mixed techniques such as embroidery, wool felting, oil painting, botanical printing, and stitched/appliquéd elements, this multi-layered textile holds haunting depth and mystical whimsy that feels like floating through a dream space or the memory of an afternoon lost in the woods. By building up layers of texture from ghostly eco-print to detailed embroidery, the composition evokes the sensation of gazing through water into a riverbed, discovering hidden depths lurking just beneath the surface.

As an initial ground layer of the composition, I used water-based inks to print impressions of the 32 varieties of leaves such as ivy, fern, oak, and pine collected from the forest. To add tactile depth, felted wool and embroidery were added to the composition to create ethereal swaths of terrain and bring life to the foreground of the fabric. Hand-made 'leaves' (crafted from used tea bags) and floral elements mingle with foraged forest elements such as moss, lichen, bark, and twigs in he final layer to make it truly "of the forest".

After being exhibited in New York City in November 2023, the work returned to Killeagh as part of the May Sunday Festival 2024 where it was presented as I initially envisioned it — living and breathing and growing with the flora and fauna that inspired it, inviting visitors to explore its hidden treasures and to interact with the amazing resource of biodiversity that is the Glenbower Wood.