Linnéa Duckworth

Naturally dyed silks layered next to each other

Growing up on rural Dartmoor in South Devon, Linnéa would explore, engage with, and feel nourished by nature: these experiences have had a lasting effect on her creative practice. Transient seasonal cycles and shifting landscapes have provided sources of inspiration for Linnéa’s artistic work. Dancing from a young age, movement and the body have always been a fascination for Linnéa; the kinesthesia that textiles offer inspires a meaningful understanding of self and the world.

Before joining the RCA, Linnéa began her artistic studies at Loughborough University, specialising in mixed media, which included a year spent studying Fashion at Joshibi University in Tokyo, Japan.

Linnéa standing in front of a wall of pleated colourful samples looking at the camera

As an interdisciplinary artist, my practice moves across textiles, dance, and film, all of which gesture towards the rhythms of nature and time. I am often inspired by philosophy and the natural world using botanical colour, draping and pleating to create moments of reflection, connection and pause.

breathing landscape: moving the sensorial body offers a personal reflection on the climate crisis while exploring how we have become increasingly separated from the natural world in our modern lives. Through collaborations within the field of dance, sound and film I explore performance, the embodiment of textiles and movement. My work strives to engage with the senses, in order to communicate emotion through intuitive movement and sensorial engagement with textiles.

This project aims to create a mindful encounter and space in which one is aware of their body and receptive to new sensory capacities. The work invites us to reconnect with nature, our own bodies and each other, as we engage with the challenges of the climate emergency. We need our full selves present - our physical, emotional, intuitive, thoughtful, sensual, and spiritual selves.

Textile installation detail. Photograph by Matthew Pontin

A large-scale textile installation with nature’s colours provided an open-ended space for sensing and movement opportunities. Here, narratives were brought to life through the movement and interaction with the textiles, contributing to a poetic response that expresses our hyper-separation from the natural environment. The materials seemed to have their own life, inspiring the choreography and adding to the overall experience.