In honour of festive season we’re taking a look back at last years festive installation we did for our dear friends at St. Agni’s flagship store.

The inspiration for this work stuck as a passing moment of admiration for a mass of Papyrus growing on a friends property.

“Papyrus better known as Cyperus papyrus. a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians (as it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made). Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant.”

Foreboding, assertive, and strangely inviting - these tall structures beacon you to walk amongst them. 


Our team discussed the following: How can we give these structures the admiration they deserve? What detail of these papyrus captures our attention? Simplistic and structured - the form of these great beasts seemed to perfectly reflect the grandeur of the St Agni space.

Our Florist friend Hamish Powell was taking part in a residency at Braer that week, so the timing seemed serendipitous.

Together Azzmin, Hamish, and Ani traveled to the property to collect the material. Foraging sacks in toe, they began slicing these beams. With 2 vans filled to the brim, the team retreated to the studio - joyful upon admiration of our collection.

Day turned to night, as the build of the structure began. We carefully weaved the papyrus through chicken wire, focusing on the external texture the papyrus would establish.

These mighty structures were around 5 meters tall - suspended to the beams of the buildings ceiling. Using a cherry picker we carefully raised ourselves aloft. Hamish happily volunteering himself to ascend skyward.

With the light of the following morning - we marvelled at
The transformation the material undertook. Hundreds of these stems metamorphosed into two singular entities. We mythically imaged them to be wrong way up Christmas tree’s or rather eccentric grinch like pelt monoliths.

A bit about the artists in collaboration with Braer:
Hamish - “Powell has set himself a challenge: ‘To forage, make and document a floral sculpture in every country of the world,’ he explains. ‘Mostly for personal joy, but I’m sure there’ll be a book in it.”
 - Via Elle Decoration

Annie - “After studying at The London Flower School in 2018, Ani moved to Brisbane and started The Stone Willow Studio. With an emphasis on using extraordinary, locally grown and foraged flower and plant materials, Ani draws inspiration from Ikebana, Architecture, Art and the gnarly natural world to form the basis of her focused practice.” - Via The Stone & Willow