Mini Coiled Baskets

A selection of mini coiled baskets made in 2021 whilst i was living between Panama and England before migrating to Panama. These intricate mini coiled baskets are made from Chunga (Black Palm, Panama) and Blue Flag Iris (England). The body of the baskets are made from the spiralling leaves of blue iris harvested in Pewsey Vale, England. The weavers that wiggle around the body of Iris are made from the leaves of the Chunga Palm, harvested together with the guidance and shared teachings of the Emberá people in the lowland tropical forests of Panama. My Work with combining plants from the tropics of Panama and the temperate ecosystem of England is part of a wider research inquiry into the kinship of interwoven relationships across cultures and ecologies. When I think of all of the diversity of the living world and woven relationships, human and non-human, that have formed these small vessels I feel so deeply thankful for this connection and reverence within basketry across cultures and ecologies.

Spectrum Baskets

Plant Participants:

Chunga (Astrocaryum standleyanum) ~ Weavers

Nahuala (Carludovica palmata) ~ Core

Dye Colours ~ Achiote, Teka, Jagua, Mango Bark, Hobo bark & root, Ash

The creation of these baskets is with thankfulness to weaving with Emberá women basket weavers in their communities in eastern Panama. All I know of these plants is with thanks to the shared knowledge of the women and the beauty of their intimacy with weaving baskets from the forest for generations. My skills in finer coiled basketry have been enriched because of many hours weaving with skilled Emberá weavers over the past two years, harvesting, processing, dyeing and weaving whilst living in their community. It is not just the physicality of my basket weaving practice that has been nurtured by weaving with the women here, but also my relationship to time and harmony within the weaving process and many other parts  of deepening into a way of being with the land and water in relationship. 

These baskets are woven with many different shades of Chunga, all dyed with different plants, seeds and barks for varied amounts of time to change the depth of the colours and then woven in a spiralling spectrum. Dyeing the fibres and seeing the alchemy in the dye pot of how we can create so many different shades is really magical to me. To watch how the colours change over time, adding a little of something else and then something else and looking into the dye pot as it transforms and mutates. It is a constant reminder of how much beauty, transformation and gifts that the land provides. 

Every evening in the forest, I sit and watch as the sky mutates, often shifting to wondrous orangy pinks as the forest begins to pulsate with the vocal symphony of frogs, as the birds and monkeys usher their last incantation before taking to bed. This liminal time of day, normally as transient as half an hour, is so enchanting to me, there is so much transition, music, colours and the colours of the basket are in honour of the generosity of beauty at this time of day. 

Seed of the heart Weavings

Plant Participants:

Seed of the Heart, Semilla de Corazón (Entada Gigas Liana Seeds)

Chunga (Astrocaryum standleyanum) ~ Weavers

Nahuala (Carludovica palmata) ~ Core

Dye Colours ~ Jagua (Genipa Americana)

Ever since I first saw these seeds washing up on the beach many years ago I felt seduced by their essence, their rich blood red colour, shiny skin and heart shaped form. 

When I look into the depth of the reflection of this seed I see glimpses of my face and the forest and river around me. Somehow all part of the same pulsing heart. “Our hearts rely on each other” rises from within me and I sit with these words and the seed nestled in my sweaty palm. I think how much my beating heart, full of love for this seed is all part of the same thing. My health and heart is entwined with the health and heart of this seed, one does not flourish without the other. 

May this family of baskets honor and celebrate these mesmerising seeds and adorn their beauty with a holy prayer, each thread spiralling out to join a long forgotten tendril of the earth.