Rachel Alexandrou: Forager

One of the most beautiful things about plants is that they can thrive in the most unlikely of space, even growing in spots that humans have taken over. Through her foraging, Rachel Alexandrou has learned to look out for these unusual spots when she’s gathering material for her designs. 

“There's plants everywhere. They're in your parking lot. They're not just in the forest. I like to think of spaces that are unconventional to harvest in.”

Rachel is always keeping an eye on the local flora, noticing what grows where so that when she’s ready to forage, she knows exactly where to go. 

“You kind of have to stay in tune with what the plants are doing based on weather and the time of year..Often I'm just going out to check on my spots and the plants that I know that are there and just see how they're doing.”

Although Rachel doesn’t claim to be a horticulturist, learning more about the ecology of her environment is a very important step in her process because it gives her the knowledge she needs to keep the plants she’s taking from thriving. 

“Plant science is huge for me…for me, it is about getting to know the community that's around me. It's just they're not people.”

Visit Rachel’s website for more information about her work.

A film by Juliette Sutherland.