“Isthmus (Earth Vessel)”

NFS, commissions on request

Materials: Naturally dyed Irish Linen, Linen gauze, with nature print, linen thread, seed heads, ebonised Elmwood

Dimensions: 20cm x 16cm x 13cm

 

Isthmus is a site-responsive vessel created using plant material and metal detritus gathered from the shorelines of Gibb’s Island (Co.Down). Connected by an isthmus, Gibb’s Island features copse surrounded by coastal meadow and is bordered by the Bransfield Strait and the Loper Channel of Strangford Lough.

The vessel’s form has been created using Irish Linen dyed with colour extracted from windfallen Oak Bark and Hawthorn leaves and wood foraged on the Island. Colour has been modified using iron water and rust made from rusted items washed ashore, and Oak Galls gathered from young oak trees within the copse to make ink. Linen has been printed using black soy ink and foraged reeds from the shore, and stitching added using Linen thread. The interior of the vessel has been layered with printed tissue paper, rust ink and oak gall ink. Seedheads create a border along the rim of the vessel.

The creative process and materials used to create Isthmus rely on the reactions of natural dyes with mordants (in this case alum-acetate) to create permanent colour, and the reaction of plant dyes with modifiers, in this case iron, to alter and transform colour.

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Artist Bio

Ruth Osborne is a Textile Artist and Printmaker based near Strangford Lough in rural County Down whose work is linked to place, seasonal transitions, and heritage. Her creative practice involves printmaking processes, in particular the historic process of Nature Printing, and the Heritage Crafts of natural dyeing and pigment making to create original artworks on Irish Linen.

Ruth’s work references the landscape through the creation of site-responsive artwork that often draws upon an interest in natural and sustainable materials: from flora for printing and natural dyeing to the use of earth and clay for pigment making. Her background in art history, heritage, and art education informs her practice.

Ruth regularly facilitate workshops, and also deliver art and wellbeing projects in my role as Artist in Residence in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, through the Charity Arts Care.

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