As quoted directly from her website, Susanna Bauer’s work is an “intimate dialogue with nature,” which is the perfect wording for the intricate and delicate beauty that Bauer brings to each of her pieces.
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Working directly with leaves, twigs, and branches from the forest, Susanna has mastered the art of using fine thread crochet to adorn these items from Mother Earth.
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More About Susanna Bauer
Susanna Bauer was born in Germany in the late 1960s. She originally studied Landscaping Architect at the Technische University in Munich but then went on to study at the Camberwell College of Art in London after several years of model-making for movies and TV.
This is when Susanna began working with nature, and since then, her work has been seen all around the world. Susanna’s work continues to be on exhibit today and was most recently seen in America in New York during June 2023.
Check out the extensive list of exhibits that Bauer’s work has made an appearance for over the years.
1. Hope
Hope
Made with a magnolia leaf and cotton thread, the detail lace work surrounding this dried flower is immaculate. It's incredible how Bauer creates such evenly spaced and perfect stitch holes and then crochets on top without breaking the delicate leaf.
2. Everything That Surrounds Us
Everything That Surrounds Us
The names of her art pieces hold a lot of meaning and weight. The way these two magnolia leaves are pressed together while being connected through a crochet lace trim speaks so much to the beauty of community and inter-dependence.
3. Round
Round
It's hard to believe the ways in which she manipulates both the leaves and the crochet to create something so unique. She put's it so poignantly on her website by describing her work like this –
“There is a fine balance in my work between fragility and strength; literally, when it comes to pulling a fine thread through a brittle leaf or thin dry piece of wood, but also in a wider context – the tenderness and tension in human connections, the transient yet enduring beauty of nature that can be found in the smallest detail, vulnerability and resilience that could be transferred to nature as a whole or the stories of individual beings.”
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4. Thrive
Thrive
Bauer confirms on the FAQ page of her site that she doesn't treat the leaves in any way to make them more durable, although she does wash and dry them using traditional botany techniques. They do sometimes break in the process, although not much anymore since she's perfected the art of the work.
5. one
one
Even when just using basic needle stitch work, Bauers work is a masterpiece of seeing the world through nature. The way she creates a patchwork of leaf bits to create a whole new leaf is so insightful and inspiring.
6. repose
repose
Even in its simplest form, the crochet techniques that Bauer chooses to utilize speak volume in the messaging that comes through in Susanna's work.
7. stones
8. sharing dreams
sharing dreams
All of Bauer's work is jaw dropping, but I'll be the first to say that the lace crochet work around and connecting leaves is the most impressive. I could spend so much time admiring the handiwork of this incredible artist and highly encourage you to continue checking out her work.
I can’t imagine how hard it is to make those delicate leaf hole crochet pieces, amazing artist, great article Kathryn, thanks for share <3
Thanks!