This series is inspired by the marks found on the skins of avocados. Often referred to as “alligator skin”, these brown, net-like scars alter the fruit’s appearance without affecting the flesh within. To me, the markings become a kind of symbolic language — traces of events the plant has experienced, held quietly in its surface.
The 2025 series mark a material shift. In the earlier series, Plant Memories, the works were coated in a mixed media of glue and filler; I now cover the wire with paper pulp. This changes the surface to echo the organic processes I am trying to engage with. The lines have a more scab-like, matte appearance, as seen on the surface of avocados — hence the title Alligator Language.
With this series, I continue to explore how we depend on plants for nourishment while remaining subject to a kind of “plant blindness” – a tendency not to fully see or recognise them. By drawing attention to these subtle markings, I am interested in inviting a closer encounter with plant life, and with the hidden narratives they carry.
