This collection of diaphanous vessels are handwoven by Susie on her Swedish loom in Fife, using paper yarn and linen with willow woven into the cloth to provide structure once it is off the loom. The Gather collection is so-named to both echo and honour the primal nature of gathering, as foundational to our relationship with our natural environments. 

The vessels are bags because, as Susie says: ‘The bag has a social history and provides continuity over time and place.’ Of her own relationship with material and process, land and life, Susie explains: ‘Growing flax and willow is part of my creative practice and brings with it an understanding of the land and seasons, the cycle of planting, cutting, harvesting , processing and then making. The sustainable use of plant material places the maker firmly within the ecological cycle, rather than incidentally somewhere on the edge, taking but not giving back. A daily diary might include gathering stones, seed heads, wood and bark while out walking in my local area, the beach or the woods. These finds often find their way into my handwoven sculptures.’