A Sharp Exhale, RSA University of Reading,

Summer, 2025

Burdoque (2025),

Installation View. Burdock burrs, Thistle, Sea Holly and Teasels; Sari silk and wire. 

3000* 800mm

This piece is a homage to the burdock and its darkly sharp beauty. Its immense height and large wavy edged leaves convey the swirling manner of the baroque echoed in the black sari silk hang.  Its beautiful spikey burrs have tremendous staying power, making it the direct inspiration for sticklebricks and Velcro, yet it is often overlooked growing as a weed along roadsides and pathways. 

I decided to demonstrate their strength by hanging them- a bit like an advert for a strong glue – so I wanted to hang them from a height.  I had been discussing the Baroque and how the excesses of the period had a parallel with our times and as I began to stick them to each other they formed a cornucopia so familiar to the baroque period. The fusion of the two is reflected in the name. Mine was keen observation : the burrs had really found their own form.  The form of the hang – the curtain flourish and the bell pull – are both reminiscent of this opulent time. 

Burdock Biennale (2025), A Sharp Exhale, MA Degree Show, Summer 2025

Burdock Biennale (2025),

Burdock burrs, Thistle, Thistle fluff and Sea Holly, on striped cotton canvas and cardboard plinth.

1500*200mm

Tall as a pillar and biennial (it flowers every two years), Burdock’s green, blue, purple and later brown flowers group into clusters called capitula or capitals.  These sharp stickley burrs attach to the fur of people or animals unawares and contrast with the light fluff of the thistle.  Paradoxically it is known for its healing properties and is associated with resilience.  

I made myself a burdock carpet with the burrs – I like the idea of domesticity being prickly to the touch. I wanted to emphasize the beautiful aspect of the burrs themselves, I thought the contrast of the Thistle fluff with the sharp burrs was interesting too, so I placed some on the carpet – the sharp burrs now hidden beneath a soft coat.  Overnight air had puffed the thistle fluff into a dome like structure and the connection had now come into an independent animation.  On researching burdock I found that the clusters of burrs were called capitals (as with the tops of pillars) and decided this was the way to present them.  A fabric pillar would also acted as a trouser leg on which the burrs would catch, so I gave it a running seam down the side and a turn-up at the base.  The fabric has a wide stripe as per a fluted column.