Spring was a busy time for us. Ross exhibited four pieces at this years PRISM exhibition ‘Edgelands‘ and Jonny was asked to photograph the show and Private View. Ross exhibited four groups of work this year. Continuing his series of work that he started in 2015, the flat lay consists of nest of trained roots, found ragstones, seeds, recycled metalwork, leaves grown on our balcony and recycled bottle glass beads. Old and broken metal shelving has been weathered in the dye garden for over three years developing a wonderful rusted patina. White fence consisting of found fencing, redundant bandages and recycle army sheets, documents death caused by government’s lack of concern – starting in covid in care homes through to the current the wars in Ukraine, Sudan and the Palestine, with each knot representing 100 deaths. The new series of Totems, representing the development of the Edgelands, through to the endgame of relentless consumption and destruction of the natural world uses everything from old scaffolding boards, driftwood, antlers and sea salvage through to 12 years of milk bottle tops, used coffee pods, secondhand cable ties, palm fronds and tin cans. We also delivered two free Shibori Indigo workshops which were both fully booked.
It was also wonderful to be asked back to the Japanese Textile + Craft Festival again, this year in its new home at the Gallery Space, Deptford Market Yard and part of London Craft Week. Once again, Jonny designed the publicity material.
Highlighting the Japanese fascination with forests, and the ancient shinto beliefs, he exhibited his beautiful cyanotypes of Scottish forests, the Hermitage and Magus Moor.
‘Trees and nature are central to Shinto, a religion that originated in Japan, which holds that spirits inhabit trees that reach one hundred years of age. These tree spirits are known as kodama, and according to Japanese folklore, the kodama give the tree a personality.’ Glenn Moore & Cassandra Atherton.
Ross is exhibited Balcony Life cloth, which is shown for the first time alongside its companion piece which originally displayed the wrapped items themselves. The metal is the perfect reflection of the Japanese concept of wabi sabi – the search for the beauty in imperfection and the acceptance that all things grow, age, and decay, and how it manifests itself beautifully in objects. He also showed his Whirligig and Shaman’s Mantle
