Anne ten Donkelaar

Embroidered Archive

In 2011, I began my first series, Flower Constructions. One of the very first works was acquired by Liset. Recognizing my fascination with preserving and conserving flowers, she gave me something truly special: her Aunt Jo's herbarium, containing pressed plants dating from around 1900.

For many years, the herbarium had a place in my studio. In 2024, I created The Cabinet of Lost and Find, incorporating a small detail from Aunt Jo's herbarium. When Liset recognized it, she asked if I would create a commissioned work using one of the plants from the collection.

My eye was drawn to a branch of golden laburnum. A flower that had once been given to Aunt Jo and carefully preserved by her. Rather than using the original flower itself, I reinterpreted it by embroidering it with gold thread and archiving it once again. In doing so, this fragile memory was given a new form.

It did not end with a single work. As I continued to leaf through the herbarium, I found myself inspired by more and more of its plants. Every leaf, flower, and stem seemed to hold its own story. Gradually, a new series emerged, in which the flowers from the herbarium were translated into embroidered works and allowed to bloom once more.

Just as I once received the herbarium as a gift, I now have the opportunity to give something back. A new work and eventually an entire series, born from the same love of preserving nature.