Ellana Hancock

My most recent project, ‘Apart of Us’ is a concept that explores the interconnections between humanity and the natural world through a combination of experimental and technical approaches. Our worldly ecosystem is continuously regenerating. It creates and processes over and over again, each time managing to grow and evolve into something beautiful. I have created this piece as part of a collection as an emotive response to the delicate, ethereal and vibrant grace of the natural environment. Throughout my practice, I have prioritised the use of natural fibres such as cotton and silk. Using such materials will allow my textile art to either decompose naturally over time or to be reused continually until no longer existing. As an artist, I wanted to voice my sustainable ethos through natural processes that do not compromise the natural environment by using eco-printing and natural dyes, from vegetables, fruits and flowers. Within this piece, I had mixed together onions, cabbage, marigold buds, white vinegar and lemon juice to create the vivid explosion of colours. Elements of my natural dyeing journey have been influenced by Kristine Vejar’s ‘The Modern Natural Dyer’ book where she unveils a whole rainbow of colours created using only plant dyes. Further mediums I have used within this piece include cyanotype print onto upcycled scraps of silk with hand and free-motion embroidery of abstract flora. My aim as an artist is to create emotive responses that empower action against the negative impacts imposed on our planet and raise awareness of the importance of both humanity's and nature's wellbeing. Within future projects, I will continue to elaborate on the diverse beauty of the natural world through a variety of processes and experimentation as a textile artist. “The whole of life is coming to terms with yourself and the natural world. Why are you here? How do you fit in? What’s it all about?” – Sir David Attenborough. There is a balance, an equilibrium to sustain. If we take, we must give back. Humanity is a part from nature. But nature is a part of us.