Mixed media and Installation artist
Growing Giants
Site-Specific Participatory Public Sculpture
Growing Giants is a sculptural intervention that celebrates the natural fauna and flora of the Isle of Axeholme. Large sculptural plants and flowers infiltrate the landscape around the canals and waterways that define the area. Based on the endemic plants of the waterways, the sculptures include the flag iris, arrowhead, purple loosetrife, flowering rush and wild angelica.
Central to this installation is the provocation that the flora and fauna of an area should be beneficiaries of any interaction on a natural landscape. As such, incorporated within the design of these unique sculptures are seed holders and water reservoirs for bird and bee baths. Providing a range of sculptural shapes, the structure of the artworks incorporate perches, shelters and resting places for a range of animals. Local communities are encouraged to take a lead role in nurturing their local natural landscape through filling the seed holders and water reservoirs. As the wind and wildlife interact with the sculptures, endemic wildflower seeds are scattered from the seed-holders. In this way, the sculptural intervention stands to positively impact the overall ecosystem of the local area, providing not only a greater array of plant-life, but also increased food and shelter for the local wildlife. Alongside the installation of these artworks is a no-mow request around the immediate vicinity of the artworks.
Concept, initial design and project management by Anna Masters
Design development and fabrication by Chris Kampf
These artworks were developed alongside two public workshops hosted and run by Anna Masters. The first was an online workshop which explored our human relationship to the natural landscape and contributed to the development of the artwork designs to include more features for a greater range of creatures. The second workshop was an in-person walking workshop, exploring the range of ways that we could interpret the landscape through text, sketch and sound, and which culminated in the placement of wildflower seeds within the sculptures.
If you would like to discuss site-specific or environmental installations in your area, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
