Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Enchanting Ecosystems Crocheted by Melissa Webb Envelop Interior Spaces with Verdant Fibers

green crochet forms evoking moss and other plants cloak a living room

“Lichenvision: Leaf Litter Living Room, Lakeside Home, and Zoom Date” (2021), 14 x 12 x 10 feet. Photo by Brian Kovach. All images © Melissa Webb, shared with permission

Lush, beguiling environments spill across floors and dangle from ceilings in the works of Melissa Webb. The artist dyes and crochets vintage fibers into mossy, botanical forms that when layered and stitched together, become enchanting installations evocative of forests and gardens. Shades of green tend to dominate the textile ecosystems as a nod to “growth, verdancy, and inevitable change,” Webb says. “Through my work, I imagine a reclamation of the earth by wildness—a less human-centered future where we learn to live and thrive in symbiosis with the natural world.”

Often paired or embedded with video projections, the site-specific installations position untamed growth in interior spaces like living rooms and industrial warehouses. For example, in “Local Authorities in the Spirit World Shape-Shift Through Time (We Call it Evolution),” Webb overlaid the soft benches and wooden architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Smith House with crocheted lichen, vines, and flowers. The altar-like “Verdantine Tabernacle” is similar, as it cascades outward with antique dolls, ceramic animals, and other found objects in the artist’s Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, apartment.

Webb is currently in progress on an installation at The Mill in Vicksburg, Michigan, and recently co-curated the exhibition Mending the Net for Detroit Month of Design, which will show “Verdantine Tabernacle” (shown below) through September 28. Explore more of her works on her site and Instagram.

 

green crocheted forms hang from a wooden ceiling with crocheted flora on a nearby bench

“Local Authorities in the Spirit World Shape-Shift Through Time (We Call it Evolution)” (2021), 16 x 20 x 10 feet. Installation view at The Smith House. Photo by P.D. Rearick and the artist

crocheted flora with colorful flowers among the moss spills onto the floor

Detail of “Local Authorities in the Spirit World Shape-Shift Through Time (We Call it Evolution)” (2021), 16 x 20 x 10 feet. Installation view at The Smith House. Photo by P.D. Rearick and the artist

two pendant lights covered in green crochet hang in front of a window

Detail of “Lichenvision Lounge” (2022), video installation, four-foot diameter wood panels with embedded TVs, vintage lamp forms, electrical accouterments, depression glass, hand-dyed and crocheted vintage textiles, 14 x 10 x 12 feet. Installation view at Albert Kahn First National Building, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by P.D. Rearick

an altar like form emerges from a wall with green crocheted moss and plant like forms and pendant light hanging from the back

“Verdantine Tabernacle” (2023), hand-dyed and crocheted vintage textiles, pillows and stuffed furniture, assorted found objects, 13 x 10 x 11 feet. Photo by the artist

two people sit in green chairs and watch tv embedded in green crochet

Detail of “Lichenvision Lounge” (2022), video installation, four-foot diameter wood panels with embedded TVs, vintage lamp forms, electrical accouterments, depression glass, hand-dyed and crocheted vintage textiles, 14 x 10 x 12 feet. Installation view at Albert Kahn First National Building, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by P.D. Rearick

two small tvs are embedded in circular forms of green crochet

Detail of “Lichenvision Lounge” (2022), video installation, four-foot diameter wood panels with embedded TVs, vintage lamp forms, electrical accouterments, depression glass, hand-dyed and crocheted vintage textiles, 14 x 10 x 12 feet. Installation view at Albert Kahn First National Building, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by P.D. Rearick

a doll and ceramic animal rest among green crochet

Detail of “Verdantine Tabernacle” (2023), hand-dyed and crocheted vintage textiles, pillows and stuffed furniture, assorted found objects, 13 x 10 x 11 feet. Photo by the artist

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Enchanting Ecosystems Crocheted by Melissa Webb Envelop Interior Spaces with Verdant Fibers appeared first on Colossal.



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