The current collection
The Desert Cotton Collection
Desert cotton, al-ara (الآرا), grows wild across the UAE, on roadsides, sandy lots and wadis. Nobody ever planted it; people gathered its soft flower heads to stuff cushions and camel saddles.
We started with a question: what could our research on this plant become? The artists studied it closely, drawing it in water-colour and pastel, pressing the plant itself onto ink and paper, and laying it on treated paper so the sun would fix its outline in blue.
Those studies became mn Collective's first collection.
01
Watercolour and pastel
Study I began with watercolour, washed across the paper until it pooled dark at the edges. Over it, desert cotton was drawn by hand in pastel, from close study of the plant.
02
The plant's own impression
Study II began with the plant itself. Desert cotton was pressed onto ink and paper to leave its own impression, then layered over in washes of watercolour paint.
03
Made by the sun
For the scarf and the pocket square, the plant was photographed, drawn and set into a negative, then laid over treated paper outdoors. Over a day of exposure, the light turned the paper blue and fixed the pattern in place.
04
Three inks
Study II, carried into risograph: broken into dots and printed three times, in purple, pink and teal, so each postcard sits a little differently from the next. Printed with Full Special.
The pieces
