Stephanie Tudor: Symbiosis workshops

Symbiosis is “the interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.”

Stephanie is using the pre-existing population of Small Blue butterflies as her source of inspiration for the public art at the Keepmoat development. These butterflies, the smallest in the UK, are in sharp decline as their delicate habitats continue to be reduced. Keepmoat has re-homed the population to an area nearby the development site. Stephanie hopes to highlight this issue through the work whilst celebrating the life cycle of the butterfly in all its beautiful forms. The functional pieces play with scale, putting the user in the place of the insect, and each has been designed to provide spaces for insects to populate and thrive- bringing the human and insect world closer together. 

Over the next year, Stephanie will be running creative workshops with local children and community members to explore the intriguing world of butterflies and how to enhance insect habitats in their own homes and gardens. The first workshop took place on Hawkfield Meadows, in collaboration with the Avon Wildlife Trust, where families created their own cocoon-inspired lantern using willow and tissue paper. The outcomes were beautiful!