Clarissa’s Garden, 2020

This is one of the first sculptures I made.

As I worked through the construction, I learnt about all the things I’d do differently to improve it, from the sewing techniques, the size of the pleating sections, the plaster formation, and the construction.

I used fabric from a packet of offcuts from the Clarissa Hulse studio - an amazing homewares business in Islington. Like myself, Clarissa is drawn to colour and nature and her designs are continuously fresh, innovative and stunning.

Every consecutive fabric piece contains at least one colour from the fabric before. I especially love all the hanging threads and raw edges, which I see as imperfections representing nature, humanity and life.

As I completed the sculpture and could see the ‘garden’ it was representing, I was thrilled to be able to use a feathered bird as a decorative element and to illustrate the beauty, freedom, sounds and pleasure we can all derive from gardens.