Hibernation
Hibernation
Free standing double-sided painting in mixed media. Alongside traditional paint and pigments, it incorporates natural materials such as clay, chalk, crushed leaves, tree branches.
Size 183 × 172 × 85cm, made in 2026
Hibernation explores the relationship between the human body and natural systems through a process-led and materially driven practice. Developed alongside a larger body of work, it allowed for a more open, exploratory approach shaped by touch, intuition, and available materials rather than fixed outcomes.
The work is built through repeated cycles of making, unmaking, and reworking. Layers of pigment, clay, dyes, bleach, crushed leaves, and organic matter are applied to a semi-transparent fabric, often using direct physical engagement. The surface is shaped through gesture, pressure, and contact, embedding traces of bodily movement and environmental materials.
Central to the work is the idea of interconnected systems. References to tree root networks, seasonal cycles, and bodily structures emerge through both material process and drawing, suggesting parallels between human and non-human forms of life. The fabric acts as a responsive surface, absorbing and transforming each intervention while also producing unexpected secondary images on its reverse side.
Over time, the work becomes a record of accumulation and change. Fragile materials such as leaves, clay, and branches remain active within the piece, continuing to shift, decay, and transform. This instability is an intentional part of the work, reflecting an ongoing interest in temporality, embodiment, and natural cycles of growth and withdrawal.
The title Hibernation refers to states of rest and inward focus, echoing the seasonal rhythms of nature and the human body’s own cycles of energy, pause, and renewal.