Exploring plant fibres for textiles and sculptural works.
‘call & response’ exhibition – 2026 Artist in Residence, Fibre Makers Space, Brough House
Visit the page – ‘call & response’ for descriptions & background information on the works in the exhibition.
‘call & response’ exhibition marks the culmination of Jane’s 3-month Artist in Residence at the Fibre Makers Space, a project of the National Trust’s Grossmann House & Brough Houses in Maitland, NSW.
Working in dialogue with the collection of Grossmann House, Jane responds to three nineteenth-century objects: a portrait of Mary Owen (Capper), a Victorian botanical wool-work vitrine, and Walter Cracknell’s 1878 bird’s-eye engraving of West Maitland. Rather than recreating these objects, the works become conversations across time, exploring the relationships between textiles, botany and the ecology of the area.
At the heart of the exhibition is Hibiscus heterophyllus (native rosella), a rainforest-edge species once common throughout the Lower Hunter Valley. Richens is both a visual artist and biodiversity farmer who has spent 26 years observing and conserving a dry rainforest near Dungog. The hibiscus used in this exhibition is from her own rainforest regeneration work, bringing the living material and ecological knowledge of that ecosystem into dialogue with the historic collection.
Its bast fibre is transformed into a life-sized sculptural garment that responds to the portrait, its stems are reimagined through textile millinery in dialogue with the botanical vitrine, and its lost habitat is reconstructed through textile maps of the pre-clearing vegetation surrounding Bo-un (Maitland) on Wonnarua Country.
Through contemporary fibre practice, ‘call & response’ reconnects this historic collections with the living landscapes that it is situated within, inviting visitors to consider what remains visible, what has been forgotten and how art can recover ecological and cultural stories embedded within place.
Part of the National Trust – Grossmann & Brough Houses
There are Open Studio Days – 8 March through to 26 May – most Mondays & Tuesdays 10-3.
Visit the page – ‘call & response’ for descriptions & background information on the works in the exhibition.
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Experiments with Hibiscus heterophyllus bast fibre – weaving, sewing, paper making
Hibiscus heterophyllus
Preparing Hibiscus heterophyllus for fibre – felling, debarking, removing the top layer of bark, retting (soaking in water for a few weeks – getting those bioenxymes to breakdown the pectin, lignen and hemicellulose).
Scraping the outer layer of bark exposes the periderm layer which is the layer that is used for fibre – bast fibre.
Retting & revealing the bast fibre
Below: past weaving – the fibre is very long and strong. Looking forward to more fibre experimentation.
Hibiscus heterophyllus is a local small tree that is found on the margins of our rainforest. It is an excellent pioneer species for rainforest restoration work.
