Interwoven

German-born artist Diana Scherer explores the ‘dynamics of belowground plant parts’ – she uses plant roots as a medium for creating patterns and networks in order to suggest the overlap between human-made technology and the ‘embodied intelligence’ of plants.

Her ongoing project Interwoven – an exercise in ‘rootsystem domestication’ – uses subterranean templates as moulds through which the root systems of plants are channelled, forming a textile-like material. During the growth process, the root material conforms to the patterns and weaves or braids itself. Scherer collaborates with biologists and ecologists of the Radboud University in Nijmegen. For Interwoven, Scherer’s objective is to discover a root system from which a strong and durable material can be developed. Interwoven and Scherer’s other projects with root networks may lead to novel ways to use botanical matter as living power sources.