Trying to find where here is

Tocil Wood, Warwickshire Art Collection.
Installed September 2019

Trying to find where here is was installed in Tocil Wood, alongside the grounds of Warwick University. It is a permanent work commissioned for the Warwick art collection.

Tocil Wood is at least 400 years old and archaeologic evidence shows earthworks within the woods dating back to first century AD. The wood is looked after by Warwickshire Wild life Trust and it was an honour to be given permission to install this work as part of the Warwickshire Art Collection.

It took several months to find a way to install the work without any compromise to the beautiful mature Oak tree. The work effectively floats on the surface of the tree and is tied with special horticultural rope. Always a nervous moment but I was so pleased to see the work had the kind of silence in it that made it feel part of its place; at once visible and at times invisible… The full text reads;

‘Ours shadows alone touched you trying to find where here is.’

The text evolves from my Dear Nature letters. Many thanks to the amazing and brilliant team of tree climbers, to Richard Rogers (art conservation), who constructed the structure that the work sits in,to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and finally many thanks to Sarah Shalgosky Curator, the University of Warwick and Elizabeth Dooley of the Warwick art collection; both brilliant people to work with.