Smell Of A Rose

Deep in the bushes with pruning saw, Kin worked to thin the competing branches. A contortion of holly root screamed ‘you’d be a fool not to take me home’. 

Smell Of A Rose  (2024) 

Made from Holly, fleece, copper wire, iris cordage, beeswax. 

In this sculpture, a wool-felted hand reaches to grasp. A nose inhales a perfume - is it Rose? If romancing a rose could be reciprocated, if flowers would adore us as we adore them, if…

Collecting long fronds from the iris plants that grow in the soggy patch next to the river, Kin breaks the fronds into strips, hangs to dry, then moistens the lengths to twist into cordage.

Cordage is an ancient way to make string, useful to bundle wood, tie salting food in cloth. The simple rhythm of twisting forwards, folding backwards, can hold a person in calm activity for hours.

Exhibited as part of the launch show for Mill Gallery, Leeds, 2024.