Find Us in the Slip Space II

Find Us in the Slip Space II

A Portland Herbal

2026

5 x 4.5 M

Find Us in the Slip Spaces II, is a site responsive plant-embedded textile archway, commissioned for b-sides art festival That Other Place, on the Isle of Portland. It was displayed in The Old Engine Shed, accompanied by a sound piece by Rory Pilgrm. The 2026 theme That Other Place, drew on the archive and stories of the now defunct Portland Fair.

The piece draws on local plant histories, medicinal uses and symbology. In the months leading up to the festival Ella made trips to The Isle of Portland, slowly gathering plants with which to work and exploring the cliffs, beaches and quarries-turned nature reserves.

Portland is made up of a unique mix of distinct ecologies with many areas marked as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Much of it is made up of disused quarries that have now become nature reserves, creating a mysterious landscape of tangled paths, holes, carved Portland Stone and an abundance of plants.

Portland Sea Lavender is one of the UK’s rarest plants and can be found on the high sea cliffs. The design at the top of the arch is based on this special plant.

This years theme That Other Place, looked to the archives and stories of the now defunct Portland Fair. The textile structure draws on the multitude of archways, entrances, tunnels, holes and portals found across the Isle of Portland as well as fairground entrances and infrastructure.

Touching on ideas of thin places within folklore, the sculpture provides a portal through which to imagine what might lie just on the other side, moving just beneath the surface of our understanding of the perceived world. It is perhaps a way to enter into That Other Place.