Chelsea Physic Garden

Research led project within a living botanical collection

Embodied Surfaces examines relationships between plants and the individuals who choose to carry them permanently on the body.

Its first iteration took place at Chelsea Physic Garden, where I worked directly with the living collection of medicinal, herbal, and useful plants. Species were selected through observation and archival research, focusing on their properties and uses.

An open call invited members of the public to share plant-related narratives connected to healing and personal experience. Over 200 applications were received, and one participant was selected and tattooed on site, with the composition developed in response to my research and time spent drawing within the garden.

The tattoo session formed the central public moment of the project, bringing tattooing into the garden’s programme and offering a different way of engaging with its medicinal and historical context.