Year: 2023
Dimensions: 12’ x 8’Â
Medium/ Technique: Thread/Machine Embroidery
“Neon Herbarium” draws from pressed flower specimens native to Ontario that I studied at the Wisconsin State Herbarium. The work investigates the intersection between scientific documentation and decorative tradition—specifically, how botanical forms migrate between herbarium sheets, embroidery samplers, and textile patterns.
The vivid neon greens and yellows I’ve employed push these botanical forms away from the muted, aged tones of preserved herbarium specimens and into the realm of synthetic materials—evoking the artificial brightness of plastics and their unsettling presence in contemporary environments.
Each piece is created by sewing into water-soluble fabric, building up dense layers of stitched lines and crossing threads. When the fabric dissolves, the thread drawings hold together through their own interlocking structure, suspended without any backing. This technique mirrors the subject matter: just as plant ecologies function as interconnected biological networks where individual organisms sustain each other through invisible bonds, these thread works depend on accumulated connections to maintain their integrity.
This work has been included in the following exhibitions:
Exhibition: In Her Garden at the Peel Art Gallery (links to be added)
Exhibition: Wanderings and Traces at Cambridge Galleries(links to be added)
