Mia Forrest
1 Wirrimbirra White, 2025
"Wirrimbirra White"
Artworks from my series 'Stitching as Storage' series explore
how textiles can store, index, and arrange ecological data in
meaningful ways that allow us to access and recite ephemeral
data.
Wirrimbirra White is composed of 1840 hand embroidered
stitches on a grid-based cotton cloth canvas. Embedded within
the geometric abstraction is a cryptographic aleatoric notation
derived from the rhythmic biodata of the Wirrimbirra White, a
rare colour variant of the iconic red Waratah, a native Australian species.
As in nature, the Wirrimbirra White is extremely rare to find, its
presence in the embroidery is subtle, nearly imperceptible. The
delicacy of the faint stitching invites the viewer into an intimate
act of looking—one that echoes the rarity, fragility, and quiet
persistence of the Wirrimbirra White itself.
To retrieve the biodata of plants, sensors are directly attached to
the plant to record the changes in electrical conductivity that
transpire through the stomata: a direct channel between the
plants’ internal autonomous systems and the conditions of the
external world. Each significant change within the stomata is
communicated to the sensor, initiating the recording process.
This biodata is then sonified and notated as a rhythmic
composition, where each embroidered line signifies the duration
of an 1/8th note, encoding the magnolia's biological rhythms
into geometric harmony.
The stitches articulate a rule-based compositional procedure
that notate the “beat” of the plant. The choice of stitching with
two color values nods to the most basic form of computer code:
base-2, wherein two binary values are utilized to constitute
conversation, or in this case, rhythmic notation.
The presentation of the embroidered artowork is secured onto archival matte board, encased by a asmanian Oak Frame. The accompanying audio work is played through stereo-channel headphones for audience to listen along to whilst observing the notation
Artworks from my series 'Stitching as Storage' series explore
how textiles can store, index, and arrange ecological data in
meaningful ways that allow us to access and recite ephemeral
data.
Wirrimbirra White is composed of 1840 hand embroidered
stitches on a grid-based cotton cloth canvas. Embedded within
the geometric abstraction is a cryptographic aleatoric notation
derived from the rhythmic biodata of the Wirrimbirra White, a
rare colour variant of the iconic red Waratah, a native Australian species.
As in nature, the Wirrimbirra White is extremely rare to find, its
presence in the embroidery is subtle, nearly imperceptible. The
delicacy of the faint stitching invites the viewer into an intimate
act of looking—one that echoes the rarity, fragility, and quiet
persistence of the Wirrimbirra White itself.
To retrieve the biodata of plants, sensors are directly attached to
the plant to record the changes in electrical conductivity that
transpire through the stomata: a direct channel between the
plants’ internal autonomous systems and the conditions of the
external world. Each significant change within the stomata is
communicated to the sensor, initiating the recording process.
This biodata is then sonified and notated as a rhythmic
composition, where each embroidered line signifies the duration
of an 1/8th note, encoding the magnolia's biological rhythms
into geometric harmony.
The stitches articulate a rule-based compositional procedure
that notate the “beat” of the plant. The choice of stitching with
two color values nods to the most basic form of computer code:
base-2, wherein two binary values are utilized to constitute
conversation, or in this case, rhythmic notation.
The presentation of the embroidered artowork is secured onto archival matte board, encased by a asmanian Oak Frame. The accompanying audio work is played through stereo-channel headphones for audience to listen along to whilst observing the notation
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