Zena Holloway

Textile worker

Share Save Itinerary

From natural root to textile art

Zena cultivates her own plant fibers to create environmentally conscious textiles
She wants to provide an alternative to plastic
Her designs are made from wheat grass roots

Zena Holloway is a creator of bio design, using home grown roots as the ecological material of her designs. In her youth, she travelled the world as a scuba diving instructor, and then picked up a camera to begin working as a self-taught underwater photographer. After 25 years in this rare aquatic profession, working with fashion and artistic photography, she got tired of seeing so much plastic polluting the ocean and began exploring resource-efficient bio design in 2018. One day she was photographing a river clean-up project and noticed willow roots growing into the river water. This inspired Zena to grow different seeds and investigate the roots’ binding properties to form a new material. Now she grows wheat grass roots into beeswax moulds, as the building block for her innovative and environmentally conscientious designs.

Interview

How do you work with root as a material?
Root can be shaped with natural waxes and oils to preserve its life and it is strong enough to be both flexible and rigid. Different patterns produce different strengths, some strong shapes and others delicate like lacy fabric. Ultimately the root is a material to inspire change and wonder at nature’s amazing capabilities.
What is the focus of your designs?
Root is a hidden fibre that buries through the earth, growing in a tangled web of living textile. By growing lamps and other interior pieces from root in my work, I bring the material into the light and reveals an organic, secret realm of plant life.
What was the first object you made with the roots?
I think the first thing I made was while practising with the material and making simple flat coral fan shapes. I was just experimenting with textures. The flat pieces came first, but I eventually learned how to make three dimensional structures from roots.
Why did you change your career to develop roots?
I loved being an underwater photographer. It is an absolutely fantastic job and I have reluctantly put my camera down to do something that I think is better for the planet. I want to develop roots into a useful material and encourage people to embrace sustainable making.

Zena Holloway is a rising star: she began her career in 2018