New Leaf and Rhizome

The two artworks New Leaf and Rhizome were created in response to the plan of Cambo Estate in Fife to transform their old stables into an arts hub and to provide education for horticulture.

The wood and slate sculpture New Leaf is located in the courtyard of the cart shed in the old stables at Cambo Estate. A group of five white beam branches emerge from the ground within a stone perimeter, suggesting cultivation. Roof slates fallen from the nearby derelict shed have been put to a new use. They have been grafted onto the white beam to form new growth. The work highlights the idea of regeneration.

Rhizome

The porcelain series Rhizome is installed through the archway of the cart shed. An array of glass containers spread across a 7 metre-long antique table arranged to suggest scientific experimentation. In these glass vessels, different sizes of heart-shaped rhizomes of peony have been made in porcelain with their new shoots. The work refers to the horticultural science of hydroponics where plants are grown without soil, but nutrients and water are fed through a series of copper tubes in a controlled environment.