Artist Creates Embroidery Sculptures That Showcase Nature’s Beauty and Fragility

One of the greatest artists is Mother Nature herself…so it makes sense that many people try to copy her.

Australian artist Meredith Woolnough has always been fascinated with leaves, particularly skeletonized leaves. That’s when the main tissue of the leaf has dried up and fallen away, leaving only the tiny, intricate network of veins. “I’ve been collecting skeletonized leaves for as long as I can remember,” she says.

Her artwork uses the traditional craft of embroidery as a method of exploring the fragility of nature. Using a regular sewing machine, she creates large-scale images of leaf veins, corals and other natural forms. The thread is stitched into a special base fabric that dissolves in water, leaving a network of free-standing threads that seems to float in air. This way, the embroideries take on a three-dimensional, sculptural character, and their airy, lacy shapes also contribute some amazing shadows when they’re displayed.

You can keep up with Woolnough’s work on her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and she takes commissions! You can also get a look into her creative process at her blog.