Sian Lester
Participating in We Live With The Land.
I am a textile artist living in West Wales working with botanical dyes and inks, organic materials and natural processes. My practice is preoccupied with the elements of alchemy, time and age and where/how I place myself within those spaces. I am drawn to cyclical, episodic patterns and rhythms within the natural world, the philosophy of ‘biophilia’ (love for life in all forms) and the forces or energies that determine these elements. My theoretical research is perpetually searching to construct connections and conversations between the human and plant world, while attempting to gain a deeper sense of rootedness between my Welsh and Far Eastern background. By exploring my sense of origin and my experiences within the realms of place and identity, I aim to make connections, by adopting an archival approach, with unspoken traces, objects and impressions left behind. I use video, photography, stitch, draw, print and dye using hand and digital approaches.
I am currently studying full time on MA Contemporary Dialogues – Textiles at UWTSD Swansea which encourages a multi-disciplinary approach. My most recent explorative work ‘Symbiosis - ‘Living with-in and with-out’, is a collection of community-like ‘symbiotic’ vessels, objects and plant matter formed and found in and from my garden and extended woodlands in Pembrokeshire. In the Summer 2021 I carried out an installation at Studio Cennen, Ffairfach for their exhibition ‘Borrowed Landscape’. My installation consisted of my locally sourced natural dyed cloths, yarns and fleece with assembled plant matter plus gathered objects from the site, echoing memories of the building’s past and grounds.
