Sophie
Standford
About

A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
Work on paper

@hortus_silvam

A Rural Idyll Selected Work

Wait-a-minute

On this local public footpath brambles grow with abandon. Hand holding my camera and recording the sound of the environment, I attempt to walk this unkept section of path, exposing my skin to the barbed, arching stems that immediately embrace me. The more I struggle to free myself, the deeper the embrace becomes.
Slightly surreal and hallucinogenic, this curious moving image work expresses metaphorically the tangle of complexities and tensions of land use experienced in the rural East Anglian landscape.

Wait-a-minute is a colloquial name given to various prickly, prodigious plants around the world that can catch onto passers-by. Here across the UK, Brambles (Rubus fruticosus) are a good example: an ancient, well known wild plant that grows freely, quickly extending its vicious, predatory arms as it hunts for fresh areas to root. Its long, thorny, rhythmic growth pattern is common in woodland, hedges and scrub. It is hardy and determined with an unsettling, unstoppable power; valuable for food, habitat, fibres, boundary creation, healing properties, forensic detection and a wealth of mythology.

snarl of bramble
bramble tangle
long and thorny
arching stems
hardy and determined
barbed boundary
forensic edge

© Sophie Standford, 2025
Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted.
No part of these pages, either text or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use, unless explicit authorisation is given by Sophie Standford.