annie tull

art + design

GLENBOWER WOOD, COUNTY CORK, IRELAND | 2024

'Of The Forest Floor' is a secondary project conceived while in residence at Greywood Arts Centre in 2023. An off-shoot of ‘Ophelia’s Refrain,’ the initial concept was to create a textile that felt as though it had been dragged through the forest, collecting bits of the flora and fauna that make up this particular ecosystem. Using mixed techniques such as embroidery, wool felting, oil painting, botanical printing, and stitched/appliquéd elements, this multi-layered textile holds haunting depth and mystical whimsy that feels like floating through a dream space or the memory of an afternoon lost in the woods. By building up layers of texture from ghostly eco-print to detailed embroidery, the composition evokes the sensation of gazing through water into a riverbed, discovering hidden depths lurking just beneath the surface.

As an initial ground layer of the composition, I used water-based inks to print impressions of the 32 varieties of leaves such as ivy, fern, oak, and pine collected from the forest. To add tactile depth, felted wool and embroidery were added to the composition to create ethereal swaths of terrain and bring life to the foreground of the fabric. Hand-made 'leaves' (crafted from used tea bags) and floral elements mingle with foraged forest elements such as moss, lichen, bark, and twigs in he final layer to make it truly "of the forest".

After being exhibited in New York City in November 2023, the work returned to Killeagh as part of the May Sunday Festival 2024 where it was exhibited as I initially envisioned it — living and breathing and growing with the flora and fauna that inspired it, inviting visitors to explore its hidden treasures and to interact with the amazing resource of biodiversity that is Glenbower Wood.

THE OLD MILL, KILLEAGH, CORK, IRELAND | 2023

In September 2023, I had the honor of presenting a brand new place-based reinterpretation of Ophelia's story at Ireland's nationwide Culture Night. Developed while in residence at Greywood Arts in East Cork, this was my first foray into video and poetry for an installation, and included music designed by multi-instrumentalist and composer Ayden Graham specifically for the piece. It is a celebration of the woodland ecosystem and our place within it. It takes its inspiration from (and was filmed largely on-site within) the nearby Glenbower Woods.

Exploring themes of female empowerment, mental health, ecological biodiversity, and communion with nature, this multi-media experience was presented in the ruins of the Old Mill in Killeagh which has been largely reclaimed by the forest, making it a perfect partner for this installation.

The entire film is just under 11 minutes long, and was shown on loop for 2 hours during the September 22 event. This recording was taken in situ at 9pm on the evening of the 2023 Autumnal Equinox.

Multimedia installation comprised of fabric, leaves, video with sound, crumbling stone building, and natural environs.

Written, directed, filmed, edited, and installed by Annie Tull; Score by Ayden Graham | 20 x 15 x 10 feet

Multimedia installation comprised of fabric, wood, charcoal, wind, and sound (by Imogen Mason) | 10 x 10 x 8 feet

fluctuation//conflagration

MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA | 2023

An extension of Auto-da-fé, reimagined for the EmberStomp Wildfire Prevention Festival in Marin County on May 20, 2023, this fire-themed immersive installation harnesses the power of the rapidly shifting wind currents that sweep through the Marin County Fairgrounds to visually depict the immediacy with which the spread of wildfire can change direction. Using lightweight, translucent gauze fabrics paired with the charred remains of campfires harvested from the fire pits at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and the audio piece developed by Imogen Mason for Auto-da-fé, Fluctuation//Conflagration invites viewers to walk through the flames in a visceral experience of the elements.

luna chapel, taos, new mexico | 2023

Borrowing motifs from both pagan and Christian lore, this installation was presented in an abandoned adobe chapel in Taos, NM over Easter weekend 2023. Fittingly developed leading up to the vernal equinox, the work utilizes projections to play with the balance between light and dark, themes which, in the context of the Christian holiday, are often read in terms of good and bad. The work is primarily composed of the storm-felled limb of a Siberian elm tree, a species that is considered highly invasive and yet adds such beauty to the otherwise dry brush desert landscape in this region. Below it, charcoal gathered from this winter’s routine brush burning speaks to the degradation of the native habitat as such invasive species take over. As a symbol of emergent spring, this piece pulls together all of these contrasting elements to examine the complexity of natural systems and humanity’s relationship to them.

Multimedia installation comprised of storm-felled elm branch, cotton and wool fibers, tulle fabric, charcoal, light, video projection, and sound (by Imogen Mason)

10 x 6 x 10 feet

Installation comprised of raw cotton string and fallen oak branches framing a view of woodland landscape | 15 x 15 x 3 feet

BALLINASLOE, COUNTY GALWAY, IRELAND | 2022

Created as part of a series of land-based sculptures developed during my one-month residency in rural County Galway, Ireland, in September 2022, this entirely biodegradable installation is set within a corridor between a tract of privately-owned farmland left wild and government-managed forestry land - a sort of interstitial no-man's-land that marks a stark contrast between the wildness of old-growth deciduous woodland and the newer monoculture of the evergreen plantation. By collecting fallen branches from the forest floor and lashing them together with string, I created a portal that frames the point where these two distinct versions of "nature" meet and co-mingle as they march side-by-side into the horizon. Placing them both within the same frame creates a dialogue between old and new, wild and worked, organic growth and purpose-driven cultivation.

BALLINASLOE, COUNTY GALWAY, IRELAND | 2022

Inspired by the dappled light pouring through the canopy of this overgrown woodland path in eastern County Galway, Hall of Rainbows was my attempt to recreate the feeling of a stained glass window using only natural fiber and the existing infrastructure provided by the trees growing here. As the light reflects off the string, it catches the color and creates a surprising moment of focus within the lush green surrounds. Moving through the tunnel, the “panes” of this composition become fractured, breaking off into their own individual compositions along the path. In creating this piece, I befriended many critters, including spiders who have woven their own webs within the openings, and crawling insects who have used the pathways between branches as a sort of short cut in their journeys.

Installation comprised of colored cotton string and live tree branches in a natural tunnel

10 x 6 x 30 feet

Sculpture comprised of cotton rope, mixed natural fibers, botanical dyes, copper fittings, steel tube and rebar | 12 x 6 x 4 feet

ANNMARIE SCULPTURE GARDEN, SOLOMONS, MARYLAND | 2022

Held in the permanent collection of Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center in Solomons, Maryland, Totem at the Tidewater was created during the summer of 2022 as part of the institution's Artist in Residence program to engage the public in a dialogue about art in nature. This work bridges themes of community and ecological responsibility while standing as a testament to the diversity of the protected Tidewater bioregion. With an intention to let the work evolve with the ecosystem over time, the hope is that this mostly biodegradable sculpture will come to serve as habitat for birds, insects, lichen, and other such members of the woodland ecosystem, while serving as an example for the humans who encounter it to think more deeply about how art can exist not just within but as part of the landscape.

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