Welcoming Mat (Mat Welcoming)

A woman sitting on and touching the Welcoming Mat which is made from 100% foraged plants

What is the Welcoming Mat?

I’ve created a sensory experience of diversity and community, bringing into question what welcoming means and who is welcoming who. A mat to walk on, to smell, to touch and drink in the natural array of colours in locally harvested plants. Made using four abundant plants growing on Penryn campus (Cornwall, UK), where my artwork was initially commissioned as part of an Artist Residency. Plants that, between them, have been called; wild, cultivated, native, non-native, weeds, invasive, foreign, garden escapees.

Two bare feet on a hand woven mat made from plants growing in Cornwall, UK

Why the name; Welcoming Mat (Mat Welcoming)?

Mats are placed at our doors, are a place to wipe feet, to remove dirt, to separate the indoors and outdoors. This mat is different. In a nod to our ancestors, who used only the sustainable materials around them, it is woven from a world garden of international plants.

Plants filled this planet before us, helping create an oxygen-rich world for organisms like ourselves to evolve and thrive. Plants came first, before humans created boundaries and borders, named countries and continents. So the question remains, who is welcoming who? I like to think that the welcoming mat welcomes us humans into this world. Reminding us that we are nature, that the garden is our home.

Details of a mat made from a 9-ply plait of green and golden daffodils and sedges

What does the Welcoming Mat say about diversity and inclusion?

‘We are a diverse, welcoming and inclusive community’

Inspired by the sign at the entrance to the Falmouth and Exeter’s University entrance and plants growing on the Penryn campus. Weaving together histories, of both plants and people, celebrating a changing topography.

In our current world, it could be said that we are in a state of amnesia about our roots. The mat aims to remind us of our reciprocal relationship with plants and reconnect us to our human nature. Through remembering our lineage, we too can then welcome the mat. Welcoming plants that have been forgotten, discarded, given derogatory names, stood on, poisoned or cleared. Honouring their multiple uses, including their fibres for weaving practical and beautiful objects over thousands of years, across cultures.

People sitting around a canvas sheet with a woven mat, pile of plants and different pieces of plant waving on it

Lots of hands around an A1 white rectangular card with green organism-like shapes made from daffodil stems

How was the Welcoming Mat made?

Made using 100% locally, abundant and seasonal growing plants. (Daffodil (Narcissus), Lily Palm (Cordyline), New Zealand Flax (Phormium) and Pendulus Sedge (Carex Pendula) are woven together in one continuous 9-ply plait. This traditional technique is renowned in Southern Europe and North Africa and was taught to me in Portugal by an elder who learnt it as a child from her mother.

The mat was woven by myself with contributions from staff, students and local people during my residency at Penryn campus. Together, we gathered plants on weekly foraging for fibres walks, followed by weekly making and well-being sessions. Creating together using heritage crafts techniques from across the globe in a reciprocal relationship. The final mat uses the 9-ply plait plus an additional basket weaving technique and other plaiting and sewing methods.

The plants used have worldwide origins spanning as wide as; Algeria, Antipodean Is., Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, NW. Balkan Pen., Belgium, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Caroline Is., Chatham Is., Corse, Cyprus, Denmark, East Aegean Is., Fiji, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Madeira, Marianas, Marshall Is., Mauritius, Morocco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Norfolk Is., Northern Territory, Palestine, Paraguay, Portugal, Queensland, Réunion, Santa Cruz Is., Sardegna, Sicilia, Solomon Is., Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is.

Where can I see, smell and walk on the Welcoming Mat?

The mat is at the Environmental Sustainability Institute at Penryn campus until the 29th May 2026. After that it is available for touring, exhibitions, events, talks and experiential workshops. Full details and directions here; Welcoming Mat at ESI.

Host a Welcoming Mat experience

The Welcoming Mat offers a great starting point to discuss many topics, as well as building community through accessible, hands on experiences. Contact me to discuss.;