Moss Suitcase

This work was a development of Moss Trunk really. Moss is a loaded material not only for its aesthetic qualities but the things that moss conjures in the mind, of nature, carpeting woods and engulfing tree stumps or cities where it spreads in the shadows of back alleys around drains and other dank sources of moisture. I felt that with Moss Trunk the plant itself was quite literally too grounded. I wanted to make a piece which developed this sense of endless travel and thought of no better way to encompass this was to suspend the piece. With installation work you are asked to consider the piece in real-time and space so the fact that the piece itself was not grounded is integral to the work.

The piece itself was over a metre wide and isn't in fact a suitcase at all but was created using a large hand welded cage-like construction as the skeletal structure. The moss was all hand sewn to PVC covered mesh wire using garden wire then added to the outside of the structure. I removed the leather corners, locks and handle from an old suitcase and added them to the sculpture as an immediate familiar visual link. The inside was hollow to allow for the addition of fluid retaining liners or irrigation system for longer exhibition periods.