There has always been a strong connection between art and the natural world – from the artist’s desire to capture the beauty they see around them to the paints made from berries or crushed minerals or oils. Yet there is a developing contemporary trend to use the materials found in nature to create artwork in a more direct kind of way – almost akin to the way some artists incorporate found objects into their work.

There is no doubt that using natural objects in the creation of art does add a distinct and interesting element to the work, something that nothing else could copy in the same way. For example, Mary Nangah, an artist represented by Agora Gallery, uses human hair in her work because she feels it [...]