Deborah Gardner’s practice is process and materially led, inspired by such things as the vibrancy of cell, plant and geological structures, imagined future environments and networkable and accumulative structures.
This work, ‘Exotica’ is fabricated from a variety of 100% repurposed textiles and objects. The chosen textiles have either been manufactured overseas or their patterns are derived from other cultures, or they are simply reconfigured from discarded worn out clothing. Embroidered cloth denotes the decorative and a preoccupation with flora and fauna in pattern and design. Pins reference dress making and construction, whilst doubling up as prickly surfaces.
The use of colour and pattern help determine and build the fantasy plant like objects to create sculptures, which prompt us to think about the geopolitical legacy in the global networks of both the botany and textile industries. Cultural authenticity, colonial legacy and our fascination for the newly imported flora, patterns and fabrics that came from faraway places combine to create strange and sometimes disquieting contexts.
“My sculpture practice is materially led, where the haptic and tactile are privileged over industrialised or high-tech fabrication.”