Womens Collective

Women’s Collective Ireland, Wexford
Flora, Fabric and Feminism

WCI Wexford created a tapestry to celebrate women’s historical roles as healers using traditional wildflowers and plants native to Ireland, highlighting the medicinal properties of plants. The tapestry depicts the female form and the main focus is the dress she is wearing which is decorated with embroidered panels. Each woman embroidered at least one panel, illustrating a wild/native plant with healing properties in the area of the body it treats. The background outlines of the piece are embroidered in couch stitch to represent water, air, earth and sun. They also put some bees and butterflies to demonstrate the ecological importance of wild and native flowers for wildlife.