Zena Holloway is a self-taught maker, researcher, collaborator and the founder of Rootfull. She cultivates textile by guiding plant root, as it grows, with templates that are intricately carved from beeswax. The process goes from seed to harvest in just two weeks and uses only organic and locally sourced materials; any excess shoot or seed is repurposed as animal fodder, leaving no waste behind.
Holloway’s West London studio is a grow-space and workshop where she innovates and explores the extensive capabilities of root. Through contemporary craft, innovation and invention, she bio-designs memorable artefacts that cultivate material intelligence and regenerative design.
Zena was born in Bahrain, the daughter of an airline pilot, and has travelled widely but considers London to be her home. She left the UK at 18 to train as a SCUBA instructor in Egypt. After a year she relocated to Grand Cayman and taught herself how to use a camera underwater, which eventually led to a successful career as an underwater photographer, spanning more than twenty-five years working for publications including National Geographic, GQ, Dazed, How to Spend it and The Sunday Times. She has produced global campaigns for clients including Nike, Pepsi, Sony, and Greenpeace.
Over the years, she witnessed first-hand the damage being done to our oceans, from coral bleaching to plastic pollution. Curiosity led her to grow mycelium in her basement before encountering the tangled root system of a willow tree in her local river. Holloway founded Rootfull in 2023 and draws on her experiences as an underwater photographer, to grow artefacts from root that reference the ocean and marine life.
