Garden Sculpture

During the summer I was commissioned to make an installation of ceramic sculptures at Kimberly Hall in Norfolk for a private music festival.

I decorated the walled garden with my torsos and we had laser installations and light shows illuminating the trees and sculptures at night. About 2.000 people attended the party which lasted 5 days. People arrived in small private planes from all over Europe, landing in the fields. On the last day there was a huge mock ‘Battle of Britain’ dog fight above the mansion with people showing off their flying skills in old Spitfires and Messerschmitt. Lots of pyrotechnics and fake bombs going off everywhere. It was incredibly scary because I don’t think anyone had slept for days.

The Bridal Chamber.This installation of ceramic wall plaques in the crypt of St.Mary-in-the- Castle in Hastings was about the breakdown of my marriage. I called it ‘The Bridal Chamber’.
I was inspired by the concept of the Catacombs in Paris and how the underground tunnels were decorated with skulls and bones from people long gone. I felt I wanted a funeral arrangement of my own to deal with falling out of love.

In my private catacomb ceramic wall plaques with dolls heads line the walls. Some plaques are decorated with flowers and beads, others carry simple text highlighting marriage vows such as ‘Honour and Obey” and “Till Death us do Part.”
Drama and misery can make you build walls around yourself and your feelings. It made sense to translate the emotions into an installation inside a crypt.
Working through my feelings made me notice the funny side to them; plunging headlong into the darkest abyss made me wonder what all the fuss was about. So my pain is there on the walls along with some heavy doses of slapstick.
The wall plaques are fired and glazed in a traditional kiln and then put on a bonfire and set alight. This method brings an intense quality and glow to the colours. Some plaques cracked and broke in the process, which pleased me no end.