"The unfinished Chthulucene must collect up the trash of the Anthropocene, the exterminism of the Capitalocene, and chipping and shredding and layering like a mad gardener, make a much hotter compost pile for still possible pasts, presents, and futures"

– (Donna Haraway, Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, 2016).

Canadian textile artist Kathleen Morris intricately weaves narratives reflecting her journeys near and far. Her pieces are evocative chronicles, capturing walks through meticulous incorporation of preserved flowers, leaves, grasses, and seed heads. These organic elements, embodying life cycles and seasonal shifts, fuse with her textiles, embodying nature's rhythms. Through each thread, Morris explores her profound link to the "more than human world" and reciprocity with the living landscape.

Cherry laurel is a dense evergreen bush with hardy leaves. Unlike the humans that share its environment, the shrub is known for embracing adversity, thriving in dry conditions with poor light and soil.

The leathery and expressive shape of the cherry laurel leaves distinguishes them from other shrubs in Kathleen Morris’ west-end Toronto neighbourhood, inviting collaboration. She found the leaves to be as resilient as the shrub, retaining their size and strength when dried. In this textile, she used them while they still were fresh and pliable. Inserted into the warp, they were left to dry on the loom, buckling and bowing in unpredictable ways.

In Cherry Laurel Morris continues her interest in illuminating the living backdrop to our built environment, and contemplating new connections to the species found there. As she handles and works with the cherry laurel leaves into her textiles, she explores its material properties. This strengthens her physical and intuitive connection to these plants and infuses her process and the work with time, depth, and lived understanding.