Potential Space: ANU School of Art and Design, 2015

Potential Space was an exhibition of my practice-led PhD research, Visualising Potential Space: Articulating the Connections between Self and Nature through Textile and Drawing Practice.

This practice-led thesis explores the relationship between the inner world of the researcher and the outer world of nature, and developed from concern about human-led ecological crises such as climate change and flora and fauna extinctions. A methodology based on Donald Winnicott’s theory of potential space is used to explore this relationship. Potential space is a state of mind that allows for inner and outer reality to be negotiated with an attitude of openness and playfulness. These connections have been explored using textile and drawing-based works that articulate and record the patterns and transformations that emerged between self and nature in potential space. Through experiences and collaborations with nature the visual research takes a number of forms including weaving, piecing, plant dyeing, drawings made with rain and burns, stitching and piercing paper. This research extends Winnicott’s psychodynamic concept by exploring its relevance for understanding the relationship between self and nature. A number of art-making methodologies are presented as ways to understand and investigate the synergies, connections and tensions between humans and nature.

Dye Diary (pieced works). Plant dyed wool, silk and linen. Approx. 6.8 x 3 metres. Photo: Brenton McGeachie

Dye Diary (woven tapestries). Cotton warp and plant-dyed wool, silk and linen weft. approx. 17 x 10 cm each

Dye Diary (plant drawings). Presse plant materials on paper, 56x 38 cm each

Disruption. Pinpricks and plant-dyed wool and silk stitiched to paper. 76 x 56 cm each

Rain Drawings. Ink and rain on paper, 97 x 97 cm each

Dye Diary (pieced works). Plant dyed wool, silk and linen. Approx. 6.8 x 3 metres. Photo: Brenton McGeachie

Renewal. Ink, burns and thread stitched to paper, 38 x 38 cm each

Interconnectedness (detail). Silver wire and woven plant-dyed wool and silk

Sol Niger. Ink and burns on paper, 110 x 230 cm