The Silk Labyrinth
Sharing some more details of the artworks we made for the Vanishing Labyrinths of the Isles of Scilly exhibition at St Agnes Island Hall: The Silk Labyrinth.
The silk labyrinth in St Agnes Island Hall lobby…
Each panel of the silk labyrinth was dyed using a different plant or mineral from the Isles of Scilly and hung in St Agnes Island Hall to form the shape of a maze. Visitors to the exhibition could walk through the different coloured iridescent panels, experiencing the idea of place and rootedness - epitomised by Scilly's maze heritage - in a new way.
Silk and St Agnes pebbles, forming the silk labyrinth…
Constructed from silk organza, raw silk, silk habotai, steel, stone, pebbles. Dyed with: elm leaf, elm bark, yarrow, daffodil, blackberry, sour fig, pittosporum, bramble, peat from giant’s castle maze restoration, and many different types of lichen. These plants map the unique subtropical climate and horticultural history of the islands: daffodils are iconic relic of Scilly's flower farming; elm as Scilly is one of the last elm strongholds in the UK; introduced species now growing wild like sour fig and pittosporum; and lichens which proliferate on the islands due to the amazing air quality here.
The central Troy Stone at the heart of the silk labyrinth…
If you walk to the centre of our silk labyrinth you will find a carved Troy Stone - knapped by Layan Harman from a sea-smoothed granite pebble. The carving depicts Troy Town Maze in its current form, referencing the carved labyrinths at Rocky Valley in Cornwall and the Troy Stone at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, that was reportedly used by a Cornish witch as an aid for entering into a magical trance-like state.
I spent the whole summer - alongside all the labyrinth project events we ran - foraging different plants and simmering up pots of silk in the garden, revealing different colours. Looking back now, this was also a practice that kept me rooted and grounded, which I really needed through this super busy time.
Each silk panel dyed by a local plant or mineral from the islands…
As I progress as an artist I notice that a lot of my works are about being held in some way. Fitting my body into spaces that hold me, or creating artworks that will do that for me in some way. I think about the holding nature of the rocks in Blue Moons or the coracle I cast from a rock pool and then floated around in for The Way of the Eel, and the silk labyrinth feels like a continuation of this theme. It has not been a conscious development I’ve made in my work, but it is happening anyway, which feels really interesting for me to notice.
Folds of pittosporum-dyed silk and pebbles from St Agnes…
