Lemma and Glume

A series of works exploring traditional wheat weaving and corn dolly making. Some of the designs below are traditional, some are new inventions based on core principles.
Instructions were followed from second hand books in order to learn this endangered art-form.

This series further explores the subject of the personification of nature that was initiated in Where once we stood on Scragged Oak Hill.

The ‘corn dolly’ is thought to be a derivation of corn idol. Early wheat weavings were made from the last straw of the harvest in order to provide a resting place for the spirit of the corn over the winter months. The idol was then ploughed into the soil to return the spirit to the fields the spring.

Lemma and glume refers to the small, tough, leaf-like bracts that enclose and protect the grains of a head of wheat.

This series will be released as prints via Solkka Studio early 2026