Seasonless: Suturing the Gaps of an Environmental Decoupling

Abstract

"Seasonless" is a textile-based interdisciplinary installation and MFA research-creation thesis project that confronts the profound physical, psychological, and cultural impacts of climate change, with a particular focus on Bangladesh—one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations—while extending resonance to my adopted homes in England and Canada. By blending autobiographical narrative, sustainable material practice, and diasporic perspective, "Seasonless" serves as an elegy for a seasonless world. Drawing on my personal experiences of disrupted seasonal cycles, witnessed during field research, the work mourns the erosion of ecological integrity and cultural heritage in the Anthropocene.

Rooted in the traditional Bengali quilt-making technique, the installation transforms the Gallery into an immersive, body-like space that evokes Timothy Morton’s concept of climate change as a “hyperobject”. Large-scale fabric works incorporate photo transfers, Bangladeshi jute fibres, repurposed materials, dry foliage, and palm-leaf hand fans. Most intimately, I sew with strands of my hair —a biomaterial carrying my DNA—to stitch organic, fractal forms inspired by human organs. This act of stitching metaphorically enacts healing, mirroring surgical suturing and nature’s regenerative processes. Guided by Janine Benyus’s principles of biomimicry—learning from nature as model, mentor, and measure—the project positions the human body as both microcosm of the planet and agent of its potential restoration. A call for reciprocity and mindful attention to the living world, "Seasonless" advocates a shift from exploitation to biocentric care, countering what Amitav Ghosh terms “the great derangement”—the collective denial and failure of imagination surrounding the climate crisis. Through slow, affective immersion, the installation invites viewers to recognise the intertwined fates of bodies and ecosystems, fostering contemplation, dialogue, and ethical awakening.