Yearlong Thread (2024)
Handspun, three-ply yarn form a single whole fleece, naturally dyed with red flowering gum.
“Yearlong Thread” is a visual representation of the wool a single sheep produces in a year. Spun entirely from one sheep’s fleece, the 1,870g of three-ply yarn symbolizes the connection between nature, time, and craft. Naturally dyed with red flowering gum, it echoes the landscape where the sheep grazed. This tactile data visualization invites viewers to take part in its next transformation - knitting the yarn into cloth, adding their own touch to the material. The piece embodies the relationship between animal, land, artist, and community over the course of a year. This work is part of the International Textile Arts Biennale 2025 exhibition.
Photography by Alex Graham
Unravelling (2025)
Single sheep whole fleece, handspun and knitted; 14 x 2200 cm at the start of performance
“Unravelling” was an interactive work that invited viewers to question the boundaries between creation, touch, and destruction in art. This piece explored the role of the viewer in the life of an artwork. After weeks of meticulous labour, the artist presented a piece meant not to be preserved, but undone—its transformation lied in its unravelling. It was a performance of destruction that asked whether unmaking something is as significant as making it. “Unravelling” challenges us to think about the value we place on effort, time, and intention. It also reminds us that nothing lasts forever—and that endings, too, can be full of meaning.
Photography by Kristi Biezaite and TJ Hill
Austra in a bath (2025)
Eucalyptus dyed, screenprinted and machine and hand embroidered on organic cotton, hung on railway nails, 140 x 150 cm
“Austra in a bath“ evokes a sense of nostalgia for a fading ritual - the intimate, everyday acts of care that gradually disappear as a child grows up. It reflects on the experience of a mother witnessing her child mature. The extraordinarily long hair in the image becomes a symbol of time passing and the quiet unfolding of femininity.
Creation of “Austra in a bath” followed an experimental approach to the creative process, where the outcome of the dyeing stage determined the direction of the work. A piece of fabric was first dyed with eucalyptus, and the resulting pattern became the basis for the next steps. The dyed shape was outlined with hand embroidery, a screen-printed figure was added using the appliqué technique, and further hand and machine embroidery were used to create the hair in the image.
Photography by Kristi Biezaite
Three crowns - vainags (2026)
Eucalyptus and rust dyed cotton, twigs, barbed wire, stones, cotton string. Various sizes.
This piece has been inspired by the traditional Latvian headwear for women – vainags, traditionally made from flowers, beads, fabric, sometimes silver or brass. Vainags is more than a decorative element, it functions as a ritual object, associated with changes, celebrations and moments of transition in woman’s life. Here I have reimagined these adornments from unusual materials and created my own.
Photography by Sarah Cunningham