Ieva Drobenkaitė

Maybe to truly appreciate a place, it must come to an end...
The closure of my family's flower business and the deterioration of the greenhouses have left me feeling strange. I grew up next to these structures, surrounded by sheltered plants, yet I found myself more connected to the now-empty place. Overgrown pathways, dirty flower beds, and torn greenhouse covers inspired me to create a collection of furniture pieces that would replace the once-thriving flower business.

I curated colours and textures based on personal and archival images of the greenhouses and plants. I combined elements of plants and synthetic materials found in greenhouses like tarps, covers and nets. For this project, I wanted to experiment with knitted structures supported by bamboo sticks using a combination of recycled plastic, polypropylene, and cotton. I continued the tradition of using materials I found or obtained second-hand just like my grandpa did while building the greenhouses. His method of working with ideas out of his head without planning inspired me to work with what I have and be flexible. I wanted my work to be able to be taken apart, changed, moved around and experienced differently. Every piece of textile is flat before inserting sticks, rolling or folding the fabric transforms it into seating, leisure or decorative objects