Karen Hiser – Four Seasons in Glory

Karen’s tapestries emanate from a fascination with the beauty and intrinsic value of the natural world: the richness of colour, the perfection of balance and form, and the incredible and constant presence of patterns in the imagery. She has a background in biodiversity and conservation, and this lends a perspective of vulnerability to her work. She takes joy

in celebrating an environment, habitat or living organism whilst, at the same time, being conscious of the precariousness of an existence that is too precious to lose.

Four Seasons in Glory celebrates the journey of life and the seasons therein. Each life stage is visibly different but just as vital, and just as beautiful as the last. In spring the leaves are fresh and new and full of energy. In summer the busy job of living and supporting the parent tree continues apace. During autumn the work of the leaves is almost done; photosynthesis slows and eventually stops. And in winter the leaves carpet the floor and provide nutrients for a whole different set of life cycles.

Such a simple thing as an oak leaf, transformed from hopeful spring newness and eventually quietening into spent winter fodder, can show us how all life is important, and moreover, how each and every stage of life, with its tasks and trials and joys, is an essential part of living.