Susanna Bauer
Close (34.5 x 26.5 x 7cm framed) magnolia leaves, cotton yarn Photo: Susanna Bauer
Connection (21.2 H x 16.7 W cm framed) oak leaves, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Band lll (29 H x 21 W cm framed) magnolia leaf, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Trans-Plant No.9 (35.8 H x 34.7 W cm framed) magnolia leaves, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Pulse (29 H x 21 W cm framed) magnolia leaf, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Patchwork (25 H x 11.5 cm) magnolia leaves, cotton yarn Photo: Susanna Bauer
Core - side view (34.5 H x 26.5 W x 7 D cm framed) magnolia leaf, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Dwelling � detail (37.4 H x 31.7 W cm framed) magnolia leaf, cotton yarn Photo: Simon Cook
Drum Tree (42.5 H x 38 W x 7 D cm) magnolia leaves, cotton yarn, wood Photo: Simon Cook
Cube Tree No.2 (34.5 H x 26.5 W x 7 D cm framed) magnolia leaves, cotton yarn, wood Photo: Simon Cook
Susanna Bauer uses what is small and fragile to express what is universal and enduring in our co-existence with each other and the natural world.
She works with the everyday, inconspicuous details of our surroundings, skilfully embroidering found leaves with a halo of cotton thread and coaxing others into meticulously constructed three-dimensional forms.
There is a fine balance in her work between fragility and strength - literally, when it comes to pulling a fine thread through a brittle leaf or thin, dry piece of wood, but it can also be transferred to a wider context: the tenderness and tension in human connections, the transient yet enduring beauty of Nature that can be found in the smallest detail - vulnerability and resilience reflecting Nature as a whole or the stories of individual beings.
Susanna was born in 1969 in Bavaria, Germany, but she has lived in England since 1996.
Her work features on the cover of Resurgence & Ecologist Issue 286, September/October 2014. For further information, read Andy Christian's article on Susanna in the same issue and visit her website.