UK’s Largest Outdoor Art Installation to Open at Wakehurst This Spring

Wednesday, April 26, 2023
UK’s Largest Outdoor Art Installation to Open at Wakehurst This Spring

Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, will soon be home to one of the UK’s largest outdoor art installations. Commissioned to wrap the Elizabethan Mansion, currently undergoing an extensive roof restoration, Planet Wakehurst is a bespoke photo montage from Australian-born artist Catherine Nelson.

Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, will soon be home to one of the UK’s largest outdoor art  installations. Commissioned to wrap the Elizabethan Mansion, currently undergoing an extensive roof  restoration, Planet Wakehurst is a bespoke photo montage from Australian-born artist Catherine Nelson. Using photography of plants from across the 535-acre site captured in summer 2022, the dazzling  installation is a celebration of Wakehurst’s biodiversity, from the colourful blooms of the abundant Water  Gardens to the towering Giant Redwoods of California in Horsebridge Wood. 

Measuring over 1550m2, Nelson’s UK premiere installation will form the equivalent of 25 double decker  buses, wrapping around three sides of the Mansion. Nelson spent hot summer days in 2022 documenting  the vast site and, over the course of six months, used the hundreds of photographs captured to create the  immense digital collage. Visitors will have the chance to see beautiful species magnified in exceptional  detail, offering new perspectives on the flora which makes Wakehurst so special, and sparking curiosity into  science research conducted across this unique living laboratory.

Artist Catherine Nelsons : “The result is something real yet unreal. I use elements that are real, that is  photographs, but put them together using my imagination. I thought a lot about Monet, looking at his  summer garden paintings, and I wanted the South elevation to be able to compete with sunny Wakehurst  days, so I kept the palette bright and colourful. The West Elevation instead has a dusk feel whilst for the  East elevation I looked at Golden Age landscape paintings with their dramatic skies, looking to create a  different mood. My work is about nature with a keen awareness of the need for its conservation. I hope people leave Planet Wakehurst with a life affirming feeling. We have a beautiful planet, and we need to take  care of it.” 

Nelson is a visual artist who uses the camera and digital medium as a paintbrush. After studying painting at  art school, Nelson moved into film visual effects, working on big budget productions including Moulin  Rouge, Harry Potter and 300 where she harnessed her digital skills which she now applies to her  photomontage artworks and videos.  

The installation will also house a new viewing platform. Raised 33ft above ground level, the lookout point  will carve out a new experience for visitors to the Sussex site, affording stunning views across the Mansion  lawns and out to the Sussex Downs beyond. This is the first time visitors will be able to take in Wakehurst’s  spectacular landscape and the surrounding countryside from this elevation. 

Image : Simulation image (c) Catherine Nelson

Stephanie Cime

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