Nature and Me

In September The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) held its annual fundraiser and we were so very happy to be a part of it.  They held a photo exhibit that celebrated our Canadian landscape, hosted a panel discussion, and encouraged our creative nature-inspired installations. 

We always use 100% locally-grown flowers, but this project forced us to consider our materials even more intensely.  The pivotal design request was to only use plants that were native to Canada.  This was quite the trying task as a designer who likes to allow lots of room for improvisation along the way - you never know when you might run into something weird and fantastic!  Nevertheless, we provided the NCC with a list of some major players including Cedar, Beech, Maple, Moss and Grapevine.  They were happy with this list and thus we got to thinking BIG.

I wanted to create whispy, tree-like sculptures that were intuitively natural.  I wanted them to be oversized while still employing minimalism and being suggestive.  I wanted to celebrate the curve, curl and leanness of each branch that was used.  I wanted the installation to showcase how I feel when immersed in our breathtaking Canadian landscape; a feeling of creativity, of sensitivity, of humbleness and of awe.  We created three separate sculptures/installations, each with their own vibe,  but together they created a unified environment within the industrial space. 

The NCC is working passionately to save our precious environment, check out their website to learn about how you can help.  Click here for more details.     

Photos by Ariana Mount.