16
the exhibition
Savill Garden
Ready to Fly by Gill Lawson
Horse Head VI by Kate Woodlock
With such great sculptures, a magnificent exhibition manager and the superb Savill Garden Team, curating the Savill Garden Art in the Garden 2019 exhibition was surprisingly an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
I have been a member of the Surrey Sculpture Society for about four years and have taken advantage of several exhibiting opportunities. When asked if I would design this exhibition, I realised the Society were probably desperate for volunteers.
Although I had managed and set up many exhibitions and art events previously, I had never designed a sculpture trail. Fear and self-doubt were my first emotions but I was reassured that I would be working with experienced members of the Society, and there would always be help if needed. I appreciate how hard all of the teams work when setting up one of our exhibitions, so thought it was time to give back to the Society.
On my first visit to Savill Garden, I was overwhelmed with the scale and diversity of the garden. It reminded me of the first day of secondary school, thinking how big it appeared and how could I possibly learn my way around. How was I ever going to find positions for 70 sculptures? Where should I begin?
Fortunately the experienced team at Savill were brilliant. They had already selected around 10 positions for sculptures, which really helped as a starting point.
Once I had walked around the gardens many, many times I started to plan where to position the sculptures. This is where the fun and creativity began.
Working alongside the very knowledgeable Heather King from the Savill Team was great. Most of the planning was done in the spring and summer, yet the exhibition would be taking place in autumn and winter. I was able to rely on Heather’s understanding of the garden to help visualise the placements.
A Tribulation of Nature by Ben Nicolas
Text supplied by Denise Jaques, Exhibition Designer