All images © Emma Bruschi, shared with permission
Rustic elegance meets agricultural ritual in Emma Bruschi’s rye sculptures. Utilizing a traditional long-handled scythe on her family’s farm in Haute-Savoie, Bruschi harvests straw that she weaves and knots into jewelry and “harvest bouquets,” small works that highlight the natural allure of the crop. Many of her designs accentuate the textures and shapes possible within the humble material as it splays outward in tufts and tightly interlaces in rows, evoking ancient symbols of fertility and timeless growth.
To simplify the process of separating a single piece of straw into smaller parts, Bruschi collaborated with the PEF workshop in Pantin to create a special tool that zips up the center of the shoot. “Transmission is also part of my job so that these ancient techniques can live on. However, straw-working tools are sometimes scarce or of poor quality. So it seemed logical to me to reproduce these ancient tools with today’s means,” she tells Colossal.
Bruschi plans to develop additional implements in the future and is currently working on a book to share more about her work and process. Head to Instagram to see the straw splitter in action, and find available bouquets and earrings in Bruschi’s shop.
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