Sarah Myerscough Gallery: Diana Scherer

Sarah Myerscough Gallery recently presented new works by Diana Scherer as the next Crafted Collectable. Diana Scherer is fascinated by the underground life of plants. The subterranean root system of a plant acts as a type of brain; it navigates and knows what surrounds it by perceiving gravity, moisture and chemicals. The artist first began to apply this “intelligence” of plants in her work in 2015. She wanted to make these hidden processes visible, for them to be appreciated by a wider audience. In collaboration with biologists, Scherer developed a technique to control the growth of plant roots, turning them into a natural textile.

Scherer comments that: “I approach the root system as if it were yarn. For example, the refined, white root structure of grass reminds me of silk and the powerful, yellowish strands of the daisy I compare to wool... The nice thing about it is that the material creates itself as it grows. Unlike other natural materials such as coconut fibre or cotton, you don’t have to weave it afterwards to get your product. Roots weave themselves, and that makes them an attractive prospect.“

Diana Scherer’s series Interwoven won the New Material Award at the Dutch Design Week in 2016. Her work has been exhibited in international solo and group exhibitions, including at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; New Orleans Museum of Art; Textile Museum Tilburg, Netherlands; Mediamatic Amsterdam; Photography Museum Rotterdam, Netherlands; DHUB Design Museum in Barcelona, Spain and Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, Netherlands. She has published two books at Van Zoetendaal Publishers; Nurture Studies 2012 and Mädchen 2015.