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Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
By Denise Laura Baker
Unique
‘This work combines cyanotype photographs with free-motion machine embroidery and acts both as a memorial to lost landscapes and a personal process of grief.
The trees in the work were originally photographed between 2020 and 2023 as part of a documentary project focusing destruction of the landscape at the hands of developers, specifically examining construction of the High Speed 2 train line. The woodlands featured were all subsequently felled as part of the process, or are still at risk. My documentary project was abruptly halted as the HS2 company took the protesters to court winning an injunction. This effectively barred "all persons unknown" from venturing near their land at risk of prison. This interruption became an important part of my work, shifting the focus from direct observation towards memory, absence and material traces.
In these pieces embroidery is created intuitively, with the needle moving freely, guided by emotion rather than predetermined design. This uncontrolled and fragmented process mirrors the violence and chaos of environmental destruction itself, yet at the same time, stitching is an act of repair. Here, alongside the hazy cyanotype images that function as fractured memories of places that no longer exist, it represents the need to fix and mend what is broken. Paired with erratic stitching, they reflect the instability and loss embedded within these altered landscapes. The work deliberately resists neatness and convention, echoing the reckless exploitation of natural resources and the irreversible damage inflicted on ecosystems and species worldwide.’ -Baker
By Denise Laura Baker
Unique
‘This work combines cyanotype photographs with free-motion machine embroidery and acts both as a memorial to lost landscapes and a personal process of grief.
The trees in the work were originally photographed between 2020 and 2023 as part of a documentary project focusing destruction of the landscape at the hands of developers, specifically examining construction of the High Speed 2 train line. The woodlands featured were all subsequently felled as part of the process, or are still at risk. My documentary project was abruptly halted as the HS2 company took the protesters to court winning an injunction. This effectively barred "all persons unknown" from venturing near their land at risk of prison. This interruption became an important part of my work, shifting the focus from direct observation towards memory, absence and material traces.
In these pieces embroidery is created intuitively, with the needle moving freely, guided by emotion rather than predetermined design. This uncontrolled and fragmented process mirrors the violence and chaos of environmental destruction itself, yet at the same time, stitching is an act of repair. Here, alongside the hazy cyanotype images that function as fractured memories of places that no longer exist, it represents the need to fix and mend what is broken. Paired with erratic stitching, they reflect the instability and loss embedded within these altered landscapes. The work deliberately resists neatness and convention, echoing the reckless exploitation of natural resources and the irreversible damage inflicted on ecosystems and species worldwide.’ -Baker