HEIRLOOMS OF THE FUTURE SHANNON CLEGG

The botanical sculptor talks to Dominique Corlett about finding her niche and how her creative practice connects with the landscape of her childhood

- Dominique Corlett

When artist-maker Shannon Clegg is working at her east-London studio, she has a favourite spot for a coffee break, just down the road in Broadway Market. From here she can look out over the canal, with its row of barges moored down one side, and historic warehouse buildings lining the other. In the distance, the giant cylindrical skeletons of the Bethnal Green gasometers dominate the skyline.

It's hard to imagine a more urban environment, or one that could be more different from the wild, rural landscape on the edge of Cape Town where Shannon grew up. But it is here, in this industrial cityscape, where she creates her beguiling botanical 'Flora' sculptures, based on the traditional craft process of flower pressing, which freeze in time that magical moment when nature bursts forth to celebrate its joyful abundance in pattern and colour.

Bringing people into contact with nature through her work – the concept of 'biophilic design' – is a driving force for Shannon. 'Architects use it and it can help boost one's mental health,' she says. 'I am fascinated by this idea and by how I can build that connection in my work, so if I make an object from natural materials, like flowers, it should give you a nature fix that elevates your mood.'

Shannon's delicate, vessel-shaped sculptures, made from the woody-stemmed flowering plants of kangaroo paw, statice and Limonium, certainly tap into that human instinct to bring nature into the home. They are commissioned by interior designers, for a client's home decor and by individuals – often men buying them as a romantic gift for their partners, since she started making them in earnest, around four-and-a-half years ago. They have garnered widespread acclaim, appearing in top design shows in London, Venice, Milan and Paris, and gaining Shannon representation with prestigious galleries here and in France.