Botanica Brasilis is a contemporary textile art studio that creates botanical paintings on linen through slow, process-based methods. The practice focuses on sustained observation, material behaviour, and non-extractive attention, treating plants as presences rather than decorative motifs or symbols.

The work is contemporary art, not botanical illustration. It does not aim to document or classify plants scientifically. Instead, it approaches plants through duration, repetition, and material process, allowing perception and presence to guide the encounter rather than accuracy or taxonomy.

Plants provide a field for sustained observation and slow perception. Their gradual changes resist spectacle and invite attentive looking. By working exclusively with plants that live within Brazil’s ecological and cultural landscapes, the practice builds continuity and avoids treating botanical subjects as exotic or symbolic.

Botanica Brasilis operates within contemporary art rather than craft or textile design. Although the work uses textile materials, it is research-led and conceptually grounded, focusing on perception, duration, and material behaviour rather than function, decoration, or applied design.

No. The works are not intended as decoration or as symbolic representations of plants. Instead, they create conditions for slow looking and sustained attention. Plants are approached as presences rather than motifs or metaphors.

Unlike botanical illustration, the practice does not aim to document or classify plants accurately. Unlike environmental or activist art, it does not use plants as evidence or message. The focus is on duration, repetition, and material encounter, allowing perception itself to shape meaning.

Non-extractive attention refers to looking without trying to use, categorise, or interpret the subject for a specific purpose. Instead of turning plants into symbols, resources, or information, the viewer remains with them as living presences. Attention becomes observational rather than instrumental.

The work engages ecological questions through perception rather than activism. It does not illustrate environmental issues or stage critique. Instead, it proposes an ethical shift in how attention is given to non-human life.

Process-based practice means that the work develops through time rather than aiming for a fixed or definitive image. Repetition, layering, and slow observation shape each piece. The method prioritises encounter and material behaviour over illustration or predetermined outcomes.

The same plants are returned to across multiple works. Repetition allows small differences to emerge over time. Seriality trains perception rather than producing novelty. No single image is treated as definitive.

All works are made with pigment on linen. Linen is a plant-derived textile made from flax fibre. Its absorbent structure allows pigment to settle into the cloth rather than sit on the surface, recording time, process, and material interaction.

Linen is chosen as a botanical and textile medium rather than a neutral support. Because it is derived from flax, one plant-based material holds the trace of another. This creates a continuous relationship between subject and surface and emphasises tactility, duration, and material presence.

Works are typically shown as unframed linen scrolls suspended from wooden dowels. This format maintains the textile’s flexibility and tactility and avoids the rigidity of stretched canvas or framed presentation.

Alongside the artworks, Botanica Brasilis publishes research-led essays that explore perception, attention, materiality, and botanical representation within contemporary art. These texts form part of the conceptual framework of the practice.

Works are typically modest or intimate in scale and designed for close viewing. The scroll-based textile format supports both gallery and domestic contexts, encouraging proximity and sustained attention rather than spectacle.

Yes. Original, one-of-a-kind textile works are available directly through the studio. Enquiries from collectors, curators, and galleries are welcome via the contact page.

Botanica Brasilis operates in Cork, Ireland and Brussels, Belgium, and engages with collectors, curators, and institutions across Europe.

For press, collaborations, or general inquiries, please contact the studio at cleidi@botanicabrasilis.com.