The Plants That Made Me.
Series 1. 2025
I work within an urban context, connecting closely to the forms of nature that exist around me, particularly ruderal plants that are often dismissed as weeds and overlooked. This body of work is an expression of deep reverence for these plants. Through sustained time spent with them, I have come to know their life cycles, habitats, and patterns of growth. The process is rooted in mindfulness and attentive observation, fostering a sense of connection and care. In alignment with the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, my methodology embraces slowness and material integrity. I create pigments directly from these plants and use them to illustrate these plants that I know and love. In doing so, the plants are not only represented but physically embedded within each work. This approach honours their resilience and presence and invites a reconsideration of our relationship with the often-marginalized forms of urban nature.
The Plants That Made Me. 2025
As part of Emerald Green Mineral House Guest Exhibition.
David Parr House. September 2025-December 2025
All images courtesy of the David Parr House.
The Plants That Made Me. Series 2.
2025
My work is a celebration of the plants that I encounter in my urban environment. Plants considered ‘ruderal’ and generally overlooked.
As I walk, I am drawn to these plants that seem to be growing abundantly, thriving in areas of neglect and human disturbance. While serving as examples of ecological adaptation in the face of global capitalism and colonialism.
To me, they are much more than plants that exist in the fringes, regularly subjected to plant blindness. And hold meaning beyond their botanical names and classifications. The work serves as an antidote to the concept of plant blindness, while looking at these plants through a ‘kin centric approach’. Acknowledging them for their presence and the role they play in how I map my existence and life.
The works presented are autobiographical cartographic illustrations of the villages and regions that I walk around Cambridge and encounter these plants across the seasons.
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Media - Taking inspiration from the ancient craft of Kantha, the fabric has been upcycled, hand dyed with natural dyed and illustrated with hand embroidery.
The Plants That Made Me Series 3.
This body of work is inspired by the ruderal plants within my urban environment, using drawing as a way of getting to know them more deeply. Through sustained observation and time spent with each plant, drawing becomes both a method of study and a form of connection with them. These drawings are then translated into abstract renditions using natural screen-printing pastes made from the plants themselves. In alignment with the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, my methodology embraces slowness and material integrity. And I am particularly proud of developing the knowledge and skill required to create and work with these natural pastes. The resulting forms are delicate, soft, and organic, reflecting the character and presence of the plants from which they originate. This work is a celebration of ruderal plants and the time spent with them, honouring their resilience, subtle beauty, and often-overlooked role within urban environments.
Media - Natural screen printing pastes on Saunders Waterford 600gm HP watercolour paper.
An expression of my reverence towards Ruderal plants by floor based art inspired by the traditional craft from India known as Rangoli.
The names of ' The Plants That Made Me' 2025. Written on the wall using watercolours made from the plants.
Rooted in the Land. Notes From An Urban Landscape. 2024
Media - Natural Inks created from Ruderal Plants displayed in petri dishes.
Rooted in the Land. Notes from an Urban Landscape. 2024.
The work shows what are known as Lake Pigments contained in glass vials.
The pigments are made from foraged Ruderal plants in my urban landscape. The pigments take me more than a week to make. They then for me hold the essence of a place in a bottle, with each colour taking me back in time and place to where and when I foraged the plant from.
