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Growing up in Kentucky, I have always been drawn to nature as a subject for my art, but this round is different. My current work in fiber is inspired from a hike I took on the western ridge trail in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park, where I accidentally stepped on a cluster of ferns. When I stopped and bent down to look more closely at the damage I caused, a miniature “fern-forest” suddenly revealed itself. I was astounded at its beauty and how I could have mindlessly destroyed it! This mystical experience inspired me to create a larger version of the ferns facing me. I wanted to capture the majestic presence of this ancient plant and convey the importance of the often-overlooked world at our feet. To do this, I needed to recreate these ferns and other plant life in the understory on a scale large enough so that they could look up at and experienced face to face.
As I began making ferns in my studio, I found an abundance of them growing in the dense understory of Dumbarton Oaks Park, in Washington, DC. With the help of field guides and botanists from Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy and the National Park Service (NPS) I began identifying them. A few years later I was honored to be selected as the Conservancy’s first Artist-in-Residence. It was in this capacity that I began investigating the ferns and the understory in which they lived more vigorously by studying planting lists, NPS plant surveys, and the Cultural Landscape Report of the Park. I also used microscopes to examined specimens at the Smithsonian’s National Herbarium and consulted with the research botanist and staff illustrator at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum. Eventually I documented 16 fern species in Dumbarton Oaks Park and Rock Creek Park.
Creating a fiber sculpture of these fern takes roughly six months. I begin each piece by photographing the fern in the woods and then enlarging images to see the details of the fern without a microscope. I then draw the frond to-scale, seven to ten times its original size, on a piece of Dacron and cut it out. I sew the cut-out parts by together by machine and insert copper wire in the seams to support the stalk and the leaflets. Using tiny surgical scissors, I meticulously shape the edges of the leaflets. The leaflets are then hand sewn onto the fern stalk using pliers and upholstery thread to complete the fern sculpture. I then paint the fern with acrylics and use colored pencils to define its vascular system. Finally, I mount the fern on a canvas painted with the faint impressions of cherry blossoms, a nod to those that bloom uphill from where I found many of the ferns, as well as to the overstory and to DC in general.
Recently I have expanded the above method to created other items found in the understory such as samaras (“helicopter seeds”), flowering plants, feathers, and leaves, in addition to creating dozens of whimsical pen and ink drawings.
Enjoy poking around the site! Sophia