This embroidered ‘intervention’ mounted on a window of the Peacock Tower bird hide at the London Wetland Centre explores the laborious methods of habitat management used to maintain the grazing marsh visible beyond the artwork. 

The verb ‘to stitch’ derives from the Germanic word meaning to stab or pierce. Despite this association with harmful practices, stitching is concerned more with methods of mending or healing (both physically, as in darning holes, and spiritually as a therapeutic activity.) 

Drawing upon this paradox, the process of stitch is used to think through the tensions between the wild and managed landscape beyond the window of the hide. Reflecting on what might seem destructive methods of conservation such as cutting, mowing and uprooting, the needle is used to pierce and break down the fabric whilst embellishing it with thread chosen to reflect the colours and textures of the landscape. Mirroring the continual accumulation of sediment and spread of species that would eventually turn the marsh to woodland, the thread is knotted and looped as the stitches ‘colonise’ the view. Simultaneously mimicking the image of a tranquil nature haven and beginning to obliterate it, the embroidery draws attention to the labour invested in creating the landscape, whilst recognising its own quiet but relentless agency.