Creep

2021

Materials: Beeswax and mixed media

Creep takes the form of a necklace composed of common daisies, individually sculpted in beeswax and worn close against the artist’s throat. Photographed on the body, the flowers extend downwards, their exposed roots meeting a surgical scar running along the spine.

The work reflects Townsend’s ongoing interest in relationships between botanical forms, bodily structures, and systems of support, healing, and repair. The daisies, plants often overlooked because of their familiarity and abundance, are transformed into objects of adornment and value, linked together like precious jewels. At the same time, the necklace sits tightly against the throat, suggesting both protection and restriction, while quietly reflecting the anxiety and responsibility tied to humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

The title refers both to the creeping growth of the plant forms across the body and to Townsend’s changing relationship with her own physical appearance following spinal surgery during adolescence. The photograph itself became an important part of the work, allowing the artist to encounter the scar differently through the process of documentation. Throughout Townsend’s practice, beauty is understood not as perfection, but as something closely tied to fragility, resilience, and endurance.