Floccus exhibition
floccus | ˈflɒkəs | Latin, a 'tuft of wool', the raw material.
Dates: 27 September – 8 October (open Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11-4pm)
Artists: Brenda Miller, Liangzi Xiao, Olivia Dunn, Emily Taylor, Emma Gannon, Polly Armond & Katinka Halland.
Curator: Patricia Brien
Wool’s history in the Cotswolds is long, from powerful monasteries trading in wool futures to the industrial production capacities of the 19th century. In these post-industrial times where fibre and materials are critically examined for provenance, ecological and carbon footprint, wool is being addressed as an important fibre in developing localised and sustainable production and earth-friendly farming and production methods. Wool’s versatility enables both high technical production and handcrafting modes. Stroud Wool Week 2022 celebrates the qualities of wool focusing on sustainable textile production based on ecological care, design thinking, innovative handcraft and technical practices. The floccus exhibition emphasises the diversity of work from local and international talented graduating students and recently graduated practitioners at Bachelor and postgraduate levels.
Individual Performances: artist Ingrid Pumayalla + performance practitioner Brenda Waite
http://brendawaite.blogspot.com
‘Weeds and how they revitalise us’ with Henk Kort (nutritional therapist). Talk & short workshop
Henk Kort’s nutritional therapy aims is to balance and enhance the function of the digestive process with the help of whole foods. This approach focuses on a nutrient-dense intervention rather than diet.
£7 & £5 [Booking necessary] [LIVE]
Image: Patricia Brien, garden
Ingrid Pumayalla lives between London and Lima & Cristina Flora Pescorán is Lima-based. Both artists have practices which span textiles, moving image and photography and ritual performance. Their collaboration on researching the huayruro seed, native to the Amazon, whose cultural symbolism is related to the act of protection, is the start of a new body of work crystallising with Plant Communitas.
https://www.cristina-flores.com
Film still: Cristina Flora Pescorán (2022) Huayruro
Thistlewaite’s practice and approach to floral design references the year’s circularity and Coppes-Martin investigates the gradations of decomposition and material reincarnation. (Free, online)
Image: Mandy Coppes-Martin
Different ways to save trees, a talk
Meer Bomen Nu, speaker Tsjeard Hofstra - The Dutch campaign Meer Bomen Nu (“more trees now”) collects saplings and shrubs – where they are overabundant or unwanted – for planting elsewhere. Winter 2021 saw 250,000 plants transplanted into gardens and fields with the assistance of 2000 volunteers. Hear about the Meer Bomen Nu method, by ecologist Franke van der Laan during this online presentation and discussion.
Jack Everett is a sculptor, designer, and writer who has exhibited widely. He was an early proponent and practitioner of eco-design principles working on projects in the UK and internationally. His practice is diverse and regularly blends art, eco-activism, spirituality and elements of performance & ritual pageantry.
Image: Patricia Brien 2020, Tree, Stonehouse
Conversation: Artist Fiona Owen & intuitive herbalist Nathaniel Hughes
The layers of intuitive, artistic and practical experiences with plants are explored in this conversation between two plant collaborators.
Image: Fiona Owen, Bluebells
Walking the Land event
A circular participatory walk of around 7km from the grounds of Stratford Park to explore the flora of the Painswick Valley, and from an artist’s perspective consider our relationships with plants and the affect they have on us.
During the walk participants will be invited to creatively respond to the coming of spring as many of these species appear to return to our world or take on a new significance as they help to create the places we walk.
You will be encouraged and helped to use any media of your choice, from photography and drawing, to sound recording and video, from the written to the spoken word
'A Bestiary of Wild Flowers'
This online presentation and poetry reading with Dr John Charles Ryan responds to the Paradise Gardens (1968-1970) painting series by the honoured Australian artist, Sir Sidney Nolan.
The two paintings on loan from The Sidney Nolan Trust are from Nolan’s epic series Paradise Garden were described by the poet Robert Melville as “a bestiary of wild of flowers, for these specimens are the gorgons, salamanders, griffons, chameleons, dragons and phoenixes of the plant world.”
Image: Sir Sidney Nolan, Paradise Garden (1968 – 1970) Mixed media on paper. 30.5 x 25.5 cm
This painting is part of Nolan’s series Paradise Garden. The work is kindly on loan from The Sidney Nolan Trust. www.sidneynolantrust.org
Informal talk: Floral motifs in traditional Ukrainian dress with Nataliya Cummings
[Free event, booking recommended. Donations go to #CookForUkraine Fundraising for Unicef UK]
Join for a cup of tea & cake, learn about the garments in the exhibition & discover regional embroidery differences and symbolisms.
Image: Lantuszka. Carpathian embroidery example. Permanent exhibition in Museum of Boyko culture, Dolyna. Copyright Commons, Wikicommons.
Madder – traditions, medicines & dyeing. Did you know that madder is not only a natural plant dye used for various shades in the red spectrum but it has been used in traditional medicinal circles, in what might be called secret women’s knowledges. Learn some of the histories, properties and practices of this quietly powerful plant. Artist Sigrid Holmwood lives and researches in Sweden & Louise Amelia Phillips lives and practices in Stroud. Both artists work with madder.
Image: Sigrid Holmwood (2021) Instruments of Torture. Media: Caput mortum and madder roots printed on calico
Siren and Tim share the thinking and approaches to their work exhibited in Plant Communitas as well as their creative practices and research more generally. [No bookings required.]
Siren Elise Wilhelmsen is a Norwegian designer and researcher. She is currently developing a practice-led PhD engaged in questions concerning natural resources, local production and plant-human relations.
Tim Parry-Williams is a craft practitioner with a specialisation in weaving. He is Professor in Fine Art, University of Bergen, Norway.
Image: Siren Wilhelmsen, ‘Plant Matrix’, Nomen est Omen (2022). Techniques/materials: Woven Flags (wool/ linen)
This fun, experimental and interactive workshop will be suitable for all levels and forms, from beginners to more advanced writers of poetry and prose. For adults and young people aged 16+.
Plant Communitas features poetry by JLM Morton. Her poem ‘Blue Boys’ takes its cue from an old sign on a public house in Minchinhampton painted in the late eighteenth century at the peak of indigo imports to Europe from the colonies.
Image: Blue Boys Inn sign © Museum in the Park, Stroud
