Entwined

Entwined and cascading, tough and delicate, Clematis aristata, seemingly expands from the ground to decorate spindly trees or other convenient supports. Also aptly named Traveller’s Joy it populates the places I regularly walk marking the season with a joyful display.
A challenge to engrave, this work took many months of laborious engraving cutting with small hand tools to create series of lines and dots that when viewed at a distance become insignificant but meld into an impression of entwined stems, leaves and flowers. Much like the plant itself I’ve attempted to disguise a beginning or end point preferring the idea of just looking into the tangle.
Engraved on recyclable HIPS I chose to print on Kitakata Japanese paper as it to appears delicate but has surprising strength.