BIOPHILLIA

BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN !

Mood

 These designs are reminiscent of nature, growth, renewal and life. Green as a dominant colour in my prints can evoke a feeling of abundance, it is associated with refreshment and peace, rest and security.

 CONCEPT

In lockdown, there has been a rebirth of love for nature.

We found solace in the unfurling of spring. Others found companionship in nature at a time of loneliness and grief. We saw and heard things we'd never taken the time to notice before: the return of the swifts, the sound of a cuckoo.

UK visits to parks were up 67% and nearly 90% of people said being in nature made them happy. Retailers reported record demand for seeds. Birdsong replaced car horns. You could hear insect buzzing instead of the drone of the motorways.

Lockdown suggested to us the primal value of connecting with the wild. Now we know it feels good, it also proved that connection with nature is crucial for mental health. 

From stress recovery to brain activity, the nervous system to the microbiome, the pathways are myriad. It is akin to eating vegetables or getting a good night's sleep.

Even looking at images of nature and being in proximity to green spaces can improve mental health.

So, how can we bring our lockdown-triggered biophilia into our homes?

This is exactly what my collection is all about, ‘bring the outside in’ with these vibrant and cheerful conversational, engaging designs for wallcoverings and fabrics.

The collection has five main designs, titled as, 

1. Nature takes over when humans are not around

2. Terrariums

3. Birds on clothesline

4. Too many house plants 

5. Eagles in the sky

INSPIRATION

My inspirations included my visits to nearest green spaces (that I discovered in lock down), garden birds, house plants, aquariums and some old furniture that was taken over by nature. 

PROCESS

I started with a mind map of my concept for this collection, pencil drawings of plants, silhouettes of birds, detailed sketches of buildings and sea life from my photos that I took on my research visits to botanical gardens and galleries last year. 

Then I grouped all my different ideas into five categories, I was thinking of terrariums, buildings covered in plants, abandoned furniture covered in moss, birds on clothesline and houses full of plants.

For terrariums, I made the silhouettes by cutting the card/paper that I then layered on top of my detailed drawings of sea life, I tried different colours and weight of card to achieve the perfect look.

For the birds-on-clothesline, I used henna as a medium of drawing, it was an amazing experiment and I think I will be creating a collection of framed henna prints sometime in future.

I love textured and raised and engraved patterns that you can touch and feel , my favourites are puff pigments and flock printing for textiles is my all-time favourite process but being in lockdown, without access to any equipment ,henna came to rescue, it gave me that unique texture that I love adding to my patterns.

I have also added textures from fabrics and seed papers, as backgrounds in my designs.