There were two requirements for this competition design – contemporary and only native Australian flora. Added to this was a judge who is extremely strict about “contemporary” designs which gave me an added edge to exploring the opportunities for interpretation.
Given the word “layers” in the class title, it might be tempting to present a stacked design, however I felt it needed a more subtle approach to incorporate some contemporary design techniques.
The structure for this design is a cardboard cat scratching unit that has a wave shape. Using the cells of the corrugated cardboard allows me to have wires and stems (of dried materials) pass through to the back of the design for securing.
Placed on a slice of banksia trunk with banksia seedheads and bark at the base, I have covered vials in hessian for the fresh grevillea and Westringia flowers. At the back and side of the structure there are vials for kangaroo paw, Westringia and gum foliage. A Xanthorrhoea seed head is placed across the top of the structure, Crasspedia, banksia and grevillea seedpod are using the cell structure for their stems through the structure (as mentioned above).
This design was awarded Highly Commended (no other placings were awarded)
Judges comments: Of all designs presented for judging this one came closest to meeting the requirements. The side placement of the westringia is distracting as the line of the rest of the design is quite clear. It should be vertical. Similarly the front placement of the grevillea seedhead detracts from the clean lines of the design. The colour of the craspedia should have been brought to/repeated at the other side of the design.
A good contemporary effort with both structure and techniques.
