Monika Lorenz

Monika Lorenz (Germany)

Title: Meandering the eucalytus path
Medium: Embroidery on wool, printed with different kinds of eucalyptus leaves
Size: 21 x 29cm
Price: € 150

After years of caring for family and working at our family business I had the opportunity to travel to Australia and Tasmania in October 2019 for 10 weeks. My dream since years came true, the possibility to explore Australian plants, especially the huge amount of different kinds of eucalyptus. My suitcase was filled with meters of white silk, wool fabric and a big pot. Whenever I had access to a stove or an open fire I rolled fabric and leaves tightly together, cooked the bundles and was constantly overwhelmed by the variety of beauty the leaves created on the fabric. The chance to combine my passion to travel and to print with plants on fabric made me feel like being in heaven. Short after arriving at home the pandemic reached Europe and the whole world stood still, locked. It was a very painful situation after the new gained freedom.
My artwork for the exhibition “The Garden of Loss & Triumph” is a print of different Australian eucalyptus leaves on wool, stitched on the piece of cotton. It shows my meandering through life during lockdown, enjoying memories, accepting grief and pain and finally finding the way back to creativity.


Based in rural Southern Germany, I have been sewing since I was a young woman. I’m combining stitching, sewing by hand, natural dying, printing with plants and felting to create quilts and embroidery, framed and wearable art. Consciousness about our planet leads me to use materials with a minimal impact on the environment, old household linen, bed sheets, dressmaking offcuts, preloved cloth. I don’t use poisonous mordants in my dying process. I love material with a history, adding something of me and my history. The material is inspiring me, guiding my way to create an unique new piece, giving something old a second life.