Amy Buckley

William Morris’s designs acted as the starting point for this work . To me, his floral prints speak of what is stereotypically considered female – nature, the home and textiles. At the same time, his work reflects the relationship between the industrialised and natural world. These beautiful prints were made as Britain became increasingly driven by machinery yet Morris chose to make his designs use natural dyes and hand made methods.

With all this in mind, I used the flora found close to my work and home in New York City to make images that I then developed into patterns. New York embodies all that is industrial yet is becomingly increasingly friendlier to the natural world. Parks, rooftop farms and community gardens are experimenting, expanding and thriving.

I also wanted to somehow make a direct connection to Manchester, my home town, and the maternal thread that makes its way across the ocean in the form of blue airmail letters from my Nana. From these I extracted all the weather updates. Since 2010 these letters have added a constant rhythm to my life away from my family. Their content is purely of the every day but I anticipate these letters with excitement. It is through the descriptions of shortening nights or surprisingly sunny days that I am carried through the seasons.