ROOTED: Material Ecologies
Messums West Gallery, Wiltshire UK
ROOTED: Material Ecologies
Roots are the building blocks for our natural world. They are a language from the ground. A slow, deliberate weaving of living fibres that grow beneath our feet and out of sight.
As part of an investigation into creativity utilising non-hydrocarbon resources, root textiles meet the age-old techniques of British basket-making.
The exhibition is a dialogue across time, reflecting on our enduring relationship with materials, from the traditional woven willow basketry of the past to the potential of bio-fabricated materials in the future.
Exhibiting Messums West: 24 May - 14 June
Exhibiting Lowestoft Beach, First Light Festival: 21 & 22 June
https://www.messums.org/exhibitions/ephemeral-beauty/
The intricate network of roots forms the foundation of our natural world, a subterranean language connecting all life. This exhibition explores innovative textiles, created by guiding grass root, as it grows, with intricately carved beeswax templates. It’s a sustainable process, transforming seed into harvestable textiles using only organic, locally sourced materials. Growing materials from plant root is a collaboration with nature. It’s an intuitive leap into the future to imagine a material world that is grown, not made.
Root sculptures are supported by willow basketry, skilfully grown and woven in Sussex into coracle structures using age-old techniques. The simple coracle, a small, light boat, embodies a craft tradition predating industrialisation, evoking themes of journeys, waterways, and our fundamental connection to the landscape.
The materials showcased – wheatgrass root for textiles, willow for structure, linen and jute for supporting yarns, with madder and gallnut for natural colour – are all plant-derived. Significantly, each possesses an inherent ephemerality, destined to decay and return to the earth, contributing to a continuous cycle of renewal.
The raw, organic textures of the root textile and the crafted willow weave together a narrative of human interaction with natural fibres. This exhibition is a dialogue across time, reflecting on our enduring relationship with materials, from the traditional woven willow basketry of the past to the potential of bio-fabricated materials in the future.
Messums.org
Messums is proud to present this unique exhibition as part of our Active Environmentalism programme, inviting artists to engage with one of the most urgent questions of our time: how can we continue to create in a world where the materials we use come at such environmental cost? Through this exhibition, first previewed here at Messums West and culminating at the First Light Festival in Lowestoft, we aim to showcase the role of art in reimagining sustainable futures. The gallery's initiative stands as both an invitation and a challenge, asking artists to reflect on the transience of materials and the potential of creativity grounded in environmental responsibility.
In sponsoring an artist to produce a large-scale, ephemeral artwork, Messums is committed to supporting innovation at the intersection of material experimentation, artistic vision, and ecological awareness. This commission is not just about the outcome, but about process, dialogue, and the exploration of alternative ways of making and materials. By facilitating the creation of a work that embraces temporality as aesthetic value, we seek to push forward the conversation on what it means to make—and unmake—in a time of ecological uncertainty.
Ultimately, this exhibition is about fostering a shift in perspective. Through this unique offering, we hope to engage audiences in a deeper contemplation of impermanence, beauty, and legacy. This project is a call to reconnect with the environment, not only as a backdrop for human activity but as an active participant in the creative process. Messums aims to spark meaningful cultural change and a renewed respect for the delicate balance between making and the natural world by encouraging curiosity, conversation, and collective imagination.
With grateful thanks to Amos Studio for their skilled willow basketry.