I have been introduced to The Cactus House at Cliffe Castle Museum and there’s no going back!
Wonderful – seductive space complementing its inhabitants- a collection of huge, ferociuos looking and widly differing cactus specimens! Spikes everywhere, that actually look more like talons- they are spectacular.
Having gone there to look at the possibilty of using the walls to put work up, my attention gravitated to the landscape created by the beds they grow in. Via a discussion with Mel (head of gardens) about the security of the work, what might get stolen or vandalised, I then began to think about installing work on the plants themselves- the branches and lateral trunks. The spaces imbetween the spikes resonate with some of my ideas for the WLP-this natural, hostile environment being taken on as a positive space. the scale of the spines also may work well here, perhaps in conjunction with laminated photographic sections- setting up a theatricality, possibly occupied by the painted, model scale figures? Here are some images of the Cactus House at Cliffe Castle, inside
a beautiful , large prickly pear
detail- this is where Id like to make & install some pieces
looking through the window from the outside- a view I’d like to take as a starting point for some of the work-
They’re not a pretty plants are they? The way Mel was talking about them intrigued me, like they got out of control sometimes: they have to be rigourously cut back or they grow too tall, too fat and break the glass on their way out. He made it sound like they do this overnight, when you turn your back on them they break through the roof glass and wreck the place.
This idea of rampant nature being held in place by a combination of us and the physical structures we place around them, reminds me of a couple of pieces I’ve made recently – one for an exhibition based around architecture and the city at Collyer Bristow Gallery , London. My piece involved constructing a sculpture in perspex & ply around a plant. the sculpture has an architectural influence , the plant is a peace lilly, chosen for its air cleansing “good” properties (the gallery is situated within the offices of a legal practise) – throughout the exhibition the lily grew through the sculpture towards the light source , hindered or facilitated by constructed elements en route.
detail
also a piece made for a sculpture garden at The South Square Gallery, Bradford. I made a scaled model in perspex, of my house in London. We were just about to leave this house to come and live back up North (I grew up about 5 miles away from the gallery). So this piece is , as a lot of my work, heavy with thoughts on belonging, identity in relation to place, control and loss. I planted the sculpture up. It wasnt terribly successful- I hadnt anticipated the length of time it would be outside and the structure fell apart a bit- but otherwise a very successful piece for my “transition”.
detail – the plants did grow up the stairs and out of the velux windows in the roof!
