This project will consist of a series of site-specific commissions, residencies, and curated shows, in a range of media, taking a different approach to the theme of ‘a landscape of objects’. It aims to encourage research by artists into the spirit of place, local identity and rural context in their making.
This project comprises of two elements - A site-specific exhibition and a residency programme culminating in an exhibition.
The site-specific exhibition set in the beautiful gardens of Forde Abbey. Water is a large element of the gardens, with several large ponds with the highest powered fountain in England. Therefore the artworks will celebrate the importance of water at Forde Abbey gardens.
Artists: Anne Marie O’Sullivan and Tom McWalter, Eleanor Lakelin and Vezzini &Chen.
Annemarie O’Sullivan and Tom McWalter’s work draws on the curves of the landscape and rhythms found in the natural world. Inspired by agricultural containers from the past they use traditional weaving and binding techniques. This connection with nature draws them to site-specific projects that are steeped in history and landscape.
Annemarie O’Sullivan has a deep connection with water as she originally trained as a swimmer. She feels the rhythm of weaving and binding is similar to the movement of a body in water.
Eleanor Lakelin’s work resembles sea urchins with their pointy texture or objects that have been eroded by water, leaving smooth flowing circular movements on their surface. The work has a deep connection with nature and the landscape. Through turning and carving, vessels grow and emerge referencing seeds, pollen and bark.
Lakelin will create a series of forms in wood referencing the shapes and textures in the landscape of Forde Abbey.
Vezzini & Chen’s work is inspired by the structure and geometry of natural forms. Their work is a dialogue between the simplicity and intricacy that one finds in nature and it is this duality that is the source of their inspiration. Vezzini & Chen bring these two aesthetic worlds together, combining fluid forms with intricate detail, repetition, texture and geometry. Their work is characterised by the repetition of organic forms.
Light plays a central role within the work, the designers drawing on their experience of diving, seeing the refraction of light underwater and its reflections on coral and marine life. Residency Artists: Kaori Tatebayashi and Katie Spragg
Forde Abbey
Vezzini & Chen
Vezzini & Chen
Anne Marie O’Sullivan and Tom McWalter
Eleanor Lakelin