Artist contributions to Leaves - Palmer Sculpture Biennial 2026
Sarah Marshall,
Sally Caston and Maggie Thomas
Ant trails - textile collaboration
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For the Leaves project, Sarah Marshall embroidered many ants onto printed fabric pieces provided to her by Sally Caston and Maggie Thomas. The ants were then framed by Lisa Conolly.
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The fabric pieces from Sally Caston were large cotton sheets on which Sally had printed many blue leaves. The ants were sewn onto the fabric in long trails. When framing Lisa preserved these ant trails by sewing them up as long pieces with wire mesh embedded to enable them to be shaped when installed. The images on this page show the individual pieces prior to installation.
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Maggie Thomas printed clusters of dark green leaves onto many smaller pieces of a lighter green cotton fabric. Sarah then added a few ants, or sometimes just a single ant. Many of these pieces were assembled by Lisa Conolly and framed, with Lisa also adding ant trails to these pieces in dark green cotton chain stitch. Some of the ants were also framed by Liz Ports.
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 Ant Trail 1Embroidered ants on printed cotton sheet. Framed by Lisa Conolly with embedded wire. |  Ant Trail 1Embroidered ants on printed cotton sheet. Framed by Lisa Conolly with embedded wire. |
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 Ant Trail 1 (installed)This photo shows the work 2 weeks after installation. Photo taken 28 March 2026. |  Ant Trail 2Embroidered ants on printed cotton sheet. Framed by Lisa Conolly with embedded wire. |
 Ant Trail 2 (Installed)Photo taken on 28 March, 2 weeks after installation. |  Ant Trail (detail)Embroidered ants on printed cotton sheet. |
 Ant Trail (detail)Embroidered ants on printed cotton sheet. |  Leaf print (detail)Printed leaves on cotton by Sally Caston |
 Wandering AntsMaggie Thomas produced many smaller printed fabric pieces with blocks of dark green leaves. Sarah Marshall sewed ants onto these pieces. |  Wandering Ant Greets the SkyPrint by Maggie Thomas on cotton, with embroidered ant by Sarah Marshall, Framed and installed by Liz Ports with wood chair part from hard rubbish and leather |
 Ant Barks up a TreePrint by Maggie Thomas on cotton, with embroidered ant, installed on tree by Liz Ports. Photo taken 21 March 2026, a week after installation, and the work shows orange bark staining. |  Wandering Ants 1 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |
 Wandering Ants 2 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |  Wandering Ants 3 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |
 Wandering Ants 4 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |  Wandering Ants 5 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |
 Wandering Ant 6 (framed)Printed leaves by Maggie Thomas, embroidered ants by Sarah Marshall. Framed by Lisa Conolly with a cotton crochet ant trail added. |  Wandering Ants 7 (installed)Print on cotton by Maggie Thomas, Embroidered ant by Sarah Marshall, Framed by Lisa Conolly with repurposed cotton skirt, crochet. Photo taken 28 March. |