When we first visited Wentworth Castle Gardens we were struck by the achievements and story of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the sun monument which was erected in her honour. As the project developed it was striking to discover how her introduction of the Smallpox inoculation into England resonated with the current research being undertaken in the development of vaccines for the Coronavirus.
Images of viruses were an early influence in the development of the work, as was the spherical form seen within the sun monument and the magical setting of the fernery. We discovered the Fernery during our exploration of the grounds. It struck us as a beautiful and tranquil setting, although seemingly a lesser-used part of the gardens. Creating artwork specifically for the fernery area has been a total pleasure. It is such a peaceful environment with meandering paths and wonderful plant life; the perfect accompaniment for Colour Forms - straws upon the water.
We have developed and created Colour Forms during the pandemic. This has thrown up many challenges but also some interesting opportunities along the way, such as the chance to work remotely with a group of families for Silkstone Primary School, who created and emailed us over one hundred drawings and photographs during the summer of 2020.
Colour Forms consists of a series of hand painted spheres, a molecular structure and two bespoke benches accompanied by an atmospheric soundscape. We affectionally refer to the sculptures as Mother-Sphere (the large sphere), Sibling Spheres (the six small spheres) and Molly (the molecular sphere).
'I am afraid we are little better than straws upon the water; we may flatter ourselves that we swim, when the current carries us along.’