Robyn Woolston's ‘Watchtree’ has been installed on the banks of Ullswater
Date uploaded: April 24, 2013
A new contemporary artwork by Liverpool Art Prize winner Robyn Woolston has been installed on the banks of Ullswater. Watchtree (2013) is one of a series of new artworks on display in trees and woodland across the Eden Valley in Cumbria, as part of Eden Arts’ CANOPY exhibition.
In 2012, Robyn Woolston was commissioned to create a series of artworks for the exhibition and has undertaken a series of residencies in Cumbria as part of the development of her work. One of the resulting artworks, Watchtree, is centred on a grove of trees on the edge of Ullswater near Pooley Bridge. A series of signs point towards the surrounding landscape. The words on the signs seem familiar yet perhaps forgotten, written in Old Norse, Brythonic, Anglo-Norman & Middle English, their meanings can be found in the surrounding mountains, rivers, rocks and language.
"10 months ago I began a journey with the brief to create ‘artwork in trees’ for Eden Arts, Cumbria. What began as a series of ideas & objects ceremonially hung from branches has stretched to concepts that reflect upon economic and social ‘meta-narratives’. I’ve been both challenged and delighted, saddened and inspired by the history of the region and its innate beauty", says Robyn Woolston.
The CANOPY exhibition also features Woolston’s Last (Bank) 2013, which is a re-imagining of the 2012 Liverpool Art Prize winning work Last (2012). An Ash tree has taken up residence within the Dovecot tower at the National Trust property Acorn Bank, with its own viewing platform at canopy height. Neon light bathes the branches of a Norse species whose roots stretch deep into the history of the Cumbrian soil. Illuminated and revered, the work questions what lasts and what's lasting.
Further artworks are currently on display at various locations as part of the exhibition, including The Woollen Woods at Acorn Bank and Bugs at Dalemain Historic House & Gardens. The Canopy exhibition runs until 3rd November 2013, with dates varying across five exhibition locations - further artworks will be installed at Hutton-in-the-Forest and Brough Castle later in the year.
Watchtree (2013) has been commissioned by Eden Arts, with kind permission from Waterside House Campsite & Farm, The Dalemain Estate and The Lake District National Park Authority.
