Homes and Gardens / inspiration
The growth of the living wall
If you’ve been to Clifton stationery shop, Papersmiths, the student union cafe at Bristol University, or perhaps you remember the pop-up exhibition Pop Up The Green in the Edwardian public toilets last year, you may have noticed a theme.
Each has a living feature within it; a living wall of succulents at Papersmiths, moss at the union and trees growing from the bowels of the old, ceramic toilets. Each of these are the creation of Venezuelan born artist and designer Jeanette Ramirez, who has been creating living art for eight years.
is needed now More than ever
Jeanette uses science, technology, nature, botany and art for her inspiration. She’s also interested in Japanese garden techniques, such as kokedamas, meaning ‘moss ball’ which involves enclosing a plant’s root mass in moss.???The connection with science is crucial to Jeanette’s creative process. “Science is very important, from all the botanical investigating that I have to do, to my work with organic materials and how to apply it as I try to create new things,” says Jeanette.
As well as public areas, retails spaces and exhibitions, Jeanette’s mesmerising living walls can be installed in homes, creating striking displays of nature. “My living walls can be installed anywhere. All projects are different, but I try to make pieces easy to install and maintain. In general they’re very easy to care for, normally I just spray some water over the moss and plants, but if the materials are preserved it won´t need any maintenance.”
Jeanette’s favourite project to date has been Moss Gardens, a mini indoor garden series that was a result of experiments with moss and its reproduction. Moss was used to cover up gaps in the old stone buildings of Barcelona, it was also mixed with beer or yogurt and carefully monitored.
Jeanette found a way to keep the moss alive indoors with a requirement for only a small amount of light while contained in antique pieces. This had the effect of creating mini meadows and small worlds.
Jeanette is currently working on three installations for a restaurant in London, but Bristol is her home. “I have been here for 18 months and I love the people.”
Her website The Clorofilas, is a treat. Described as a ‘creative laboratory exploring the aesthetic potential of vegetation as a primary source for experimentation’, it features Jeanette’s projects and links to her botanical and floral design studio, Twig. The studio work with events, weddings, shops, provide corporate plants and flowers, create set design and props, as well as green space projects using eco design to integrate vegetation and reuse materials. Clever seeds to have sown.