'Sbôr: Pockets of nature'
Words by Amelia Stallworthy
In light of our upcoming exhibition “Perceiving Nature: Exploring Representations of the Natural World,” Amelia interviews Molly, a textile artist displaying one of her rugs inspired by nature. A graduate of fine art at York St John University who has experience in curation as she co-curated ‘Experience Colour,’ the first student-led exhibition at the University which members of Norman Rea attended in support of the local creatives. Now graduated she is continuing to expand her creative practice through new pieces and opportunities like ‘Perceiving Nature.’
Molly’s works are beautiful. The detail of each rug is within the countless threads that have been weaved together to replicate landscapes and plants. Despite the colour green dominating Molly’s pieces there is a myriad of colours of yellows, pinks, and blues providing more depth just as light illuminates different aspects of the natural world. You can tell that nature means a lot to her and provides inspiration for her creations.
Molly: I’m inspired mostly by memories of growing up in Wales. I was very fortunate to live a short drive from areas like Eryri (Snowdonia), Anglesey and Betwys-y-Coed. My hometown was overlooked by a ruined folly-castle covered in ivy and moss that my friends and I would explore growing up. I loved the way nature ruled, moss softening the broken edges of the castle - now that the castle is being restored, the hideaway full of ferns and lichen that sparked my imagination growing up is gone. To preserve a human structure, a whole ecosystem that grew around it was taken away.
I guess that’s what my art is all about - trying to preserve the memories of nature long gone. I’m also heavily inspired by artists like Sheila Hicks, Alexandra Kehayoglou and Vanessa Barragão.
Close up of “Sbôr: Pockets of Nature”.
One of the most interesting aspects of Molly’s work is the tactile quality, the feeling of nature is enacted through the medium of yarn which is inherently a material that we feel day to day in our lives. Whilst most of us have the mindset that these art objects are not to be touched Molly actively encourages viewers to interact with her pieces through the sense of touch, breaking down boundaries between her, her art, and her viewers.
Molly: Touch is one of the first ways we interact with the world, touch is the way we learn and touch is the way we relax- I’ve always thought the barrier between art and viewer can be isolating and inaccessible. I do not want this barrier in my art. Artists like Maria Bartuszová, who made art for blind children to explore, broke down the boundaries between art/artist/viewer and I hope my art can do the same.
I hope people feel relaxed and comforted by my work. When I make art, I’m thinking back to those memories of home, I can’t bring my memories and that nature to people in a traditional way so I hope I can help people interact with nature in a different way.
Close up of “Sbôr: Pockets of Nature”.
The rugs are textile pieces which in the art world often have discussions around them as to whether they are considered craft or art. Yet the time, concepts, and process of Molly’s pieces dispel any notions that they are just craft, instead they explore the relationship between art and craft.
Molly: I was initially hesitant to move into textiles, I have huge imposter syndrome and was worried I couldn’t live up to my peers at university who were making beautiful paintings, sculptures etc… I had a preconceived notion of what being a ‘fine artist’ was and craft/textiles was not in that notion.
Eventually I decided to take the plunge, I was making art that wasn’t me and I needed to shift gears, so I picked up punch needle on a whim. Luckily, my tutors were quite supportive of what probably looked like a mini art breakdown when I stood up in a crit and said ‘I’m making rugs now, I don’t know what I’m doing, I know it’s not ‘fine arty’- I just know I need to do this’.
I used to separate fine art and craft, but the more I researched I found that the separation was created to undermine a lot of female arts ( predominantly textiles), I recommend the book ‘Subversive Stitch’ if you are interested in this topic.
Textiles can be fine art, and we don’t need to remove its associations with ‘women’s work’ or crafting for it to be art. My art is crafting, it is also fine art, and I am trying to be better at diminishing what it is I make. Sure, they are rugs - but who said rugs aren’t beautiful pieces of art?
Hanging element of “Sbôr: Pockets of Nature”.
Bringing the outside inside is a theme that Perceiving Nature intends to explore and Molly is especially interested in this as her work is not just hung onto the gallery wall it expands onto the floor below and the ceiling above, creating little spores of nature. The works are abstract, seeking not to be a direct realistic depiction of the natural world, rather they diversify traditional views of nature and the emotion that nature evokes within us. Molly has specifically created ‘Sbôr’ for this exhibition.
Molly: ‘Sbôr’ is the Welsh word for ‘spores’, I wanted to create a collection of artworks that captured the way I feel about my memories of home. The minute I see something that reminds me of home, it’s like spores spreading in my brain- one thing turns into a billion thoughts. I wanted these little pockets of memories/nature to sprawl and spread on the gallery wall just like how they do in my brain.
I also feel as though ‘taking up space’ is important to my practice so ‘sbôr’ is an experiment into the reversal of how humans interact with nature. As we urbanise, we remove nature and then add it back in controlled ways - planters, perfectly mowed grass, tree cages. The minute it grows too wild we cut it back. I intend for ‘sbôr’ to reclaim space for nature in the way real nature cannot, it will have breathing room, and most importantly transform my portion of this exhibition.
Molly’s works look as if they belong in nature rather than the traditional white cube aesthetics of galleries. ‘Perceiving Nature’ intends to bring nature into the gallery through curation of painting the long gallery green and bringing plants inside to create an immersive experience. However, Molly has produced work for outdoor exhibitions and discussed how she felt working in different spaces.
Molly: I love displaying in nature! It’s super fun, full of unexpected elements. Working with Malton Sculpture Trail sent my work to 2 locations, Malton centre and then Dalton forest; challenges like protected buildings, ensuring work is safe outside of the gallery, exploring how my work interacts with wildlife. My work in Dalton forest was made with the intention that it could become a bug-motorway for insects to travel between trees, but I had no idea how it would actually be used. , when I visited it a week or so afterwards and saw some spiderwebs in places I never even considered they could latch on to I was thrilled. That’s the best part about exhibiting in nature, you can plan and plan but once it’s outside who knows what will happen.
I enjoyed every second of it - I’m hoping to exhibit outdoors more (maybe a little yarn-bombing), I’m not sure when my next opportunity to exhibit outdoors will be but I am excited to travel down this path more.
Artist Molly underneath her artwork “Sbôr: Pockets of Nature”.
Molly has been involved with several art organisations in varied roles from co-curating ‘Experience Colour’ at YSJ where student artists made works in response to the prompt of a colour to being a part of Malton sculpture trail. With conversations about nature and our relationship with it, works like Molly’s force us to rethink those actions we do that harm the planet especially living in a climate crisis. Post university, Molly looks towards the new avenues and opportunities she intends to explore in the future.
Molly: I’ve been on an art hiatus since finishing my degree, so I could fully reflect on those 3 years- it was a longer hiatus than I expected it to be but I’m a firm believer in letting my practice grow organically and not forcing art to happen. Now I’m back in the game, I’m excited to create again.
I’m interested in seeing if I can grow real plants onto my rugs - blending my work and nature in a whole new way! That and I’ve been heavily inspired by lily pads and sea-grass lately so an aquatic piece may be on the way. I’m also excited to exhibit again, although I love my flat being full of lots of mossy rugs - I’m going to run out of space soon ! I'm very grateful that Norman Rea is the platform for my return, and in an amazing exhibition like Perceiving Nature- I couldn’t be happier!
