“Misfit” 2008
My piece for Fred 2008, called “Misfit”, combines the familiar with the exotic. The bottom half being a traditional rough garden shed and the top half taking the form of a gold pagoda, this piece continues the theme of identity & fitting in, that began with last years Fred commission. The Lake District has long been a place of refuge and sanctuary for people all over the world. The site - a field across from the path going up Stickle Ghyll, was chosen for its popularity, Stickle Ghyll and the tarn at the top is an immensely popular destination, making it rather incongruous for those visitors seeking isolation. The pagoda and the garden shed are both often architectural structures offering sanctuary and retreat - here they join forces to attract attention from the walkers, “Misfit” is unavoidable on the hill. The location also has its roots in previuos years Fred pieces: in 2005 one of my sculptural interventions nestled under the crag behind Misfit, and last year the sculptures were placed on and made from the materials on this fell.
Made off site to flat pack, the pieces were taken up the fell on the back of a quad bike & assembled quicker than Ikea!
Made with the kind help of Sean Taylforth and his quad bike, the permission of The National Trust and was commissioned by Fred.
Visit www.fredsblog.co.uk for details and info on the Fred 2008 event, 50 artists making work all over Cumbria - September 27th to October 12th
“Visitor” 2007
“Visitor” was a series of 6 sculptures placed in the landscape at Stickle Ghyll, Great Langdale, Lake District, for the Fred art event — September 28th - October 14th, 2007.
Recognizable structures from around the world were made from natural, very local materials, taken from the landscape in which they were made: grass, stones, twigs, sheep shit & wool are bound, twisted & manipulated into world famous, iconic structures eg. The Statue of Liberty, The Kremlin, Stonehenge. The sculpture is then placed back in the landscape and left.
“Visitor” is about the landscape of The Lake District and its relationship to a changing population of visitors. By creating well-known structures from very localized materials, “Visitor” brings the outside world into Langdale, joining the exterior/outsider with the interior/native, the celebrated with the mundane. The work looks at belonging, identity, and “fitting in”.
This is my third year in Fred: for Fred 2005 I made a series of postcards hi-jacking the landscape with my models, integrating The Lakes into The Sally Barker Empire.
Fred 2006 was my “Roast Lamb at Wastwater”, for which I sculpted the landscape out of roast lamb from sheep that had been reared on the shores of the lake (postcards are still availble - contact me for more information.
