Artists Amy Sterly and Frances Carlile have recieved an Arts Council England grant to create a site specific sculptural installation at the Sidney Nolan Trust’s historic property in Herefordshire; combining sculpture, green woodworking and printmaking in one work We will be creating two parallel house structures. An inside house would be constructed in a barn, and then an outside house is constructed out of coppiced wood from the Rodd Farm.
2nd May 2014
After a break while we were both doing other projects, Frances and I have been getting together again to discuss making a limited edition book of the prints that we made from the tablecloth. We are both doing some test prints to try the paper out and decide on the cover. It’s great to be working together again, we have the same ideas on how to achieve the end product, which is refreshing!
And happy news today – we have found a premises for the coppiced house from the project! It will be on show permanently at a garden in Powys….details to follow!
Nice to find a home for the house!
Now that the work is finished we have decided to turn the blog into a dialogue where we can work through some of the outcomes of the project.
Frances: I found the whole process of collaboration really helpful, especially how the range of the work was expanded through discussion. For example we had both thought of using the motif of the house, but Amy said how life happens around the kitchen table or even on the kitchen table. This led us on to use domestic objects in sculpture and in print. I have used objects in sculpture before and have always loved the translation of the still life tradition into three dimensions. We talked about how the objects had to be removed from too much reality.
Amy: I found the collaboration an amazing experience – it helped me expand my thoughts about the theme of ‘home’, which I was already using in my work. Working with Frances brought in new ideas and also made some of my existing ideas clearer. It was interesting to not take ownership of any one image and know that my work was part of a larger piece. Having an on-going discussion helped throughout the project, as well as having an extended period of time for the ideas to form and develop. Making sculpture and print work in an outside space was complex and I think we are still working out what the overall effect of the project will be as well as finding new meaning in the work.
Last day: Friday was a beautiful day, perfect for finishing off all the work. Scott helped us finish the roof of the house, while also cladding 2 more walls for the other ‘house’. He did an amazing job with everything, and we were able to concentrate on putting the tables into the space and arranging the sculpture. We put all the pieces in at first, and it looked a bit jumbled. Luckily, I went off to check on Emily and Frances had time to look and think, and rightly decided we needed to edit the work to give it more power. So we took quite a few off and stuck with the pieces that seemed to say the most because of the abstracted nature of them. They didn’t immediately seem identifiable, so were more intriguing to the viewer, hopefully. Then we put the print onto the inside table and set up the light. This was really exciting and had a beautiful effect on the space. I just hope people will know to go in there to look at it, now that it isn’t quite as near to the other house as we originally wanted. So it all looks pretty much as we imagined, and as long as it will last for a few weeks in the open air, we will be ready for the private view on the 5th of Sept. This coincides with the H-Art opening exhibition in the barn, so it should be well attended.
This week has gone by so quickly, I didn’t really want it to end. It has been amazing staying here for this time and being able to discuss the ideas and logistics at the end of each day. Everything about the Rodd has enabled us to be creative and realize our ideas. And we had the time to ramble around to the woods and the river to relax. It will be good now to have a break and go back and look at it with fresh eyes. I hope it has the impact that we wanted!
Friday. Last day. We are about on schedule to finish everything, despite the unexpected interruptions with moving soil and preparing the site. Yesterday we moved the house panels in place and started putting the roof parts on, and Scott and Alan started cladding the interior house. They have both been invaluable for constructing tables and cladding using the old tithe barn timber. The section we are working on looks completely in keeping with the old buildings of the Rodd, which is interesting since they are repairing so much of the barn with new timbers, so now that looks out of place! It won’t take long to weather I’m sure.
We were nervous about the day yesterday since we didn’t know how it would look in place, or even how easy it would be to move! It is interesting how things change so much visually when you are working outside. The scale of a piece of work alters when taken outside after working on it in a barn for so long, as well as the influence of other aspects of the landscape; trees, paths, etc.
The moving of the panels went smoothly, as Roger and Neil from the Rodd were there to help. We then tied it up temporarily so we could screw and peg it into place. The tree in the yard provides a good backdrop for the skeletal structure. The house is starting to transform into our original idea – the scale of it relates to the other buildings at the Rodd and makes a statement about structure and form. And also when the sculptures go in, a whole new set of ideas will emerge, I hope.
The interior house will blend into the setting and will depend so much on the lighting, table and print that we will put inside. That will be done at the end of the day today, and a moment that we have been looking forward to!
We are spending all this week at the Farmhouse at the Rodd Farm, the Trust uses this simple but lovely house as accommodation for its Residency Programme. We have our partners Scott and Alan here to give us major help! We also have Emily here, Amy’s daughter.
This is the week for constructing the outside house, making the tables, preparing the site, building the walls for the interior house, installing the sculpture and print; in fact everything has to come together by Friday.
Our main problem is the building work that is taking place here at the Rodd. A major refurbishment of the old Tithe Barn is going on as well as the installation of a new toilet block. Everything has taken much longer that predicted, as is often the case. Unfortunately our two houses are bisected by the construction a new access path… However everyone is being as helpful as they can.
We have spent two days pegging branches on to the four walls of the outside house. It is now assembled temporarily. Meanwhile while Scott and Alan have made a wonderful table from materials salvaged from the renovation of the old barn. We decided to give the table some weight as a contrast to the fragile nature of the house.
We have been up to the woods twice today to gather more material, having underestimated the length of the ridge pole. It is always restoring to visit the woods, and remember the very beginning of the project.
