Colette Stubbings, 28, is a Vancouver, Canada, based creative responsible for creating sculpture-like, floral gloves; she calls them ‘rose armour’. Her specialty is drawing but growing up close to nature sparked her exploration into an experimental medium where she could engage with the durability of rose petals. Like “pulled props from alternative realms”, Colette creates peace in her own mind through the anxiety relieving repetition of placing and binding the petals during her creative process. Often inspired by the fantastical ‘storybook’ characters of youth, she is drawn to nature and utilizes it to create these emblematic protective adornments reminiscent of something from a fairy-tale.

What is your background in art and how does this inform your current practice?

I graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2014, majoring in Visual Arts. I spent most of my time in post-secondary focusing on my drawing practice, mainly working large-scale with graphite and chalk pastel. Drawing has functioned as a therapeutic and immersive process for me to bring spaces/worlds into fruition that don’t but should (in my mind) exist. My recent armour pieces are in many ways a natural progression of this exploration, like pulled props from those alternative realms.

Where did the idea for your ‘rose armour’ come from?

I spent a large portion of my childhood outside and developed a very tactile relationship with the natural world. My father always had roses in his garden, and I would collect the petals after they had fallen. It felt good to wrap my fingers in them and so I started experimenting with the material, covering my entire hand or arm. I was curious about the durability of petals and leaves and wanted to challenge myself to mimic the functional form of a glove with pieces of various flowers and plants.

Can you describe your creative process?

Sometimes I will be prompted to make a glove when I see a flower or plant outside with parts that resemble a specific detail or design element that interests me (frills, pompoms, etc.). Other times I will buy and pick apart a bouquet of flowers with colours that I’d like to work with. I will disassemble the flowers and sort their parts then place them on my hand/arm into whatever pattern I decide then begin to wrap them with thread. The process of binding becomes very methodical and I don’t usually focus on aesthetics until the bulk of the glove is finished.

What kind of materials do you use to make the gloves?

I use found plant materials or flowers picked from a bouquet and then a spool of thread or string to keep them in place. I like to make use of as many parts of a flower as possible, petals, leaves, thorns, etc.

Your Instagram @hallofstars has a very ‘naturesque’ feel to it, which seems to coincide with your use of flowers in your work. What is it that draws you to nature?

I love the ability that nature has to make me feel surrounded and connected to such an expansive system. I love that this persists, as alone or far from familiarity as I might be. I think each human inherently desires to experience a connectedness to our natural world and so I do my best to gravitate towards that in my practice, rather than pull away.

You use your floral gloves to cope with anxiety. Can you describe what it feels like to you each time you put one on?

When I wrap my arm/hand with string and bind petals to my skin it feels like I am in some way creating a protective barrier for myself. As the process of continually placing out the petals and binding them unfolds, the act becomes meditative and it calms me. I lose my thoughts in the repetition while simultaneously building an imaginative physical defence.

Where do you find your inspiration to continue creating new ‘armour’?

I am inspired by various storybook characters, costume and of course worlds that don’t, but should, exist. The endless possibilities of colour combinations and specific traits that different flowers and their parts lend themselves to will allow me to continue experimenting until I just don’t feel like doing it anymore.

Are you currently working on any new ‘armour’ or alternative projects?

I am currently working with petals and leaves to test out a slipper or shoe prototype for a foot/feet rather than my usual gloves. I would really like to become more prolific in making different models of armour as there is so much more I could do. I am also interested in experimenting with preservation techniques in the future as these pieces are ephemeral and do have a definite lifespan.