Sally Baldwin
I am drawn to lacelike spaces and structures: delicate fibres stretched across space to create patterns where the spaces are as important as the solid, creating a feeling of fragility even if the structure is quite strong. Whether it is the interlacing of winding plant stems, or their fragmenting leaves and petals as they decompose, I find myself returning to these qualities repeatedly in my work.
I have developed a technique of stitching plant forms into paper and then deconstructing it to create contemporary paper lace, used in the robes shown here.
They developed from a Fragile Earth installation called Lost Flowers, looking at the gradual loss of indigenous plant species as the climate warms. The upper part of the garment is densely packed with flowers, which become smaller and more sparse towards the hem. The top piece was selected for an exhibition and runway show in Tasmania called Paper on Skin.
The second piece was a development of the original, with a longer train and a hood. It was selected for the Wells Contemporary 2022 and positioned on a mannequin at the top of the beautiful old limestone staircase to the Chapter .House in the Cathedral. It appeared as a ghostly figure disappearing up the staircase, evoking all those who had climbed the stairs over the last 700 years and representing the transcience of all things