Enter the tactile, textural, sense-surround forest world created for your enjoyment. Engage your senses and explore this rich environment. Forests are places of growth, decay, cycles and endless change … what are the changes you would like in your life? This work invites you to “be here now” and welcomes repeat visits.

A one-evening sensory installation for the 2015 HillsceneLIVE festival held in Monbulk, Victoria, created in collaboration with Julia Day.

This installation employed scent, sound, vision and touch and was an immersive environment intended to ground patrons in the physical and invite them to stop and experience.

Using aromatic oils and natural vegetation to bring scent into the installation, a purposed-created forest soundtrack using zones within the space, and a rich mix of tactile objects, Textural Forest: Change/Transform draw patrons back multiple times over the course of the festival.

Patrons entered via a “forest” of hanging fabric strips – some smooth, some rough, some soft, some cold. Leaves underfoot and fairy lights brought the forest to life. On the walls, fabric, handwoven objects and rusted textile art invited visual and tactile exploration. Engaging objects and shifting lights in corners gave viewers a visual feast wherever their eyes fell.

Visitors were invited to contribute their wishes for transformation in their lives to the “Wall of Change” and “Tree of Growth” areas, and many festival goers chose to participate.