Ella Whelan
she/her
Biophilic Solutions
The cost of living, housing, and climate crises - all products of capitalist greed - have been detrimental to our mental health. My three-part project, ‘Biophilic Solutions’ encourages reconnection with the natural world to tackle these issues.
‘Roots’ reveals how our ancestral knowledge can guide us on how to work with the earth. Through cyanotype printing and beetroot dyeing, these upcycled scarves declare Imbas (greater knowledge/inspiration) and Síocháin (peace).
‘Ground’ is an immersive audio and visual experience. It features filmed glimpses of life, text from the Tamarack songbook, "Journey to the Ancestral Self," combined with the music of electronic plant waves.The beauty of life is in its living.
‘Growth / Grafting the Poster Tree’ asks how we might dismantle the capitalist system through acts of daring, caring, and sharing. A poster tree made of repurposed wood exhibits a series of typographic posters based on Margaretha Haughwout’s essay, ‘Grafting the Sterile Tree,’ expressing hope for future cities to be abundant with food and common spaces.
Imbas — scarf of greater knowledge / inspiration.
Síocháin — scarf of peace.
Roots, publication documenting the research and processes
To speak Irish is to decolonise our history - Roots, publication spread
Growth/ Grafting The Poster Tree, exhibit of typographic posters on guerilla grafting
How can we dismantle harmful systems through radical care to create a future full of hope and abundance?