The Resilient Leaf

Relaxing the viewer & regulating their nervous system by looking at woven leaves

What started as leaf art to be exhibited & sold has evolved into a non-pharmaceutical tool designed to support patients in care; especially for those with compromised brain health such as dementia, stroke, brain tumours and major mental health issues.

I am proud to have received positive feedback and encouragement on The Resilient Leaf project from pioneering environmental dementia experts Professor Richard Fleming, Kirsty Bennett, and Dr Joanna Sun.

The next step for me is to seek funding and a partnership to test these leaves in situ. Please contact me to discuss, rhona.e.orr@gmail.com

My Dad lives in a care facility as he has vascular dementia. His strong preference for my green leaf art, rather than yellow, orange, or red leaves, was the catalyst for me to research why. My Dad's friends in the care facility also preferred the green leaf art and feedback from buyers of my art highlighted a profound calming effect when viewing my leaf art—a sentiment that mirrors my own meditative state when I weave leaves. Again, why?

While my background is in intelligence analysis, data, and service design rather than formal academia, I have used my skills and AI to determine why some leaf art is good and some is not. This has allowed me to move away from a process of creating random ‘pretty art’ in various sizes to creating a structured, evidence-based process for selecting, sizing and installing botanical landmarks that are safe for my Dad and others.

The Resilient Leaf project is designed to create interesting and calm to support patients in care. Transforming care environments into spaces that honour the dignity, agency, and history of the people living within them by installing art that lowering stress and regulates the nervous system through evidence-based biophilic design.

Operationalizing the 10 Principles of Dementia-Enabling Design into a repeatable, data-driven process, ensuring every piece of leaf art:

Reduces risk and stimulation.
Provides human scale and visibility.
Optimizes helpful stimulation.
Supports movement and engagement.
Creates links to identity and community.

As I learn more about the research this project is based on, I am sharing this knowledge with others via the Instagram clips shown below. Click on the images.

The leaves that started it all

What might be dismissed as an imperfect leaf is re-contextualized as a visual story of adaptability and endurance.

A leaf shows all its experiences: nibbled by insects, ripped by the wind, torn by trimmers, shaded from the sun, or exposed to the elements. In response, leaves adapt and transform into unique shapes, textures and colours. Leaves persevere through these experiences. This visual, honest expression of how life experiences alter leaves fascinates the artist, Rhona. As she collects leaves, she is drawn to those that, like many of us, have lived complex, sometimes traumatic lives, capturing the leaves' adaptability and vibrancy before they fade, and celebrating the endurance and interconnectedness of all life.

Leafiness — living shapes us all exhibition, 2025.