A wonderful symbiosis of art and nature: The Hannah Peschar sculpture garden in South England
Broadleaved plants and mature trees support and frame a changing collection of contemporary sculpture. Heralded as the first of its kind in the UK, the Sculpture Garden hosts over 200 pieces by more than 40 artists every summer season.
Curator Hannah Peschar and her award-winning landscape designer husband Anthony Paul discovered this place in the Surrey countryside back in the 1970s; they immediately saw its potential. The gardens had been originally landscaped in the 1920s, but had fallen into disrepair, with fallen trees, waist-high nettles and a stream that burst its banks every winter. Anthony and Hannah began the enormous task of taming the garden and the stream, building a weir to control the waters and forming large ponds surrounded by mature trees and broadleaf plants.
The water adds movement, texture and light: fast-flowing watercourses, a cascade and quiet expanses that reflect trees and other plants. Anthony's birthplace of New Zealand has inspired him to use magnificent architectural plants, such as Gunnera Manicata and Giant Hogweeds. Unlike traditional British gardens, there are no flowering plants (apart from the rich carpet of wildflowers in spring), no borders or beds – nothing is contrived.
At the end of 2015 Hannah stepped back to allow a new pair of curators to add their stamp to the Sculpture Garden. Anthony Paul and curator Vikki Leedham have assembled the following year's collections, giving a new lease of life to the Garden.
The range of works selected by the curators is wide, with styles varying from figurative to highly abstract, innovatively using contemporary metals, wire, glass, ceramics and plastics as well as the more traditional stone, wood and bronze.
The placement of the sculpture is the key aspect which makes the garden so special. A strong connection between art and nature is crucial; be it the way a plant frames the piece, how the piece accentuates the surrounding planting – such as the texture of the trees or the colour of the moss – or how a shaft of sunlight plays across the surface of a sculpture. Part of the joy is discovering pieces hidden in secluded parts of the garden, creating tiny 'Wonderland' moments.
The exhibition runs over the summer season until the end of October. The garden plays host to a number of schools, art and garden clubs, societies and other groups. Visitors return year after year to see the ever-changing collection.
2018 started as an great season – helped by the glorious summer weather. An exciting range of new artists took over the garden with a riot of colour, intriguing materials and fascinating shapes. Among the artworks on show this year, sculpture network member Yke Prins’s Light Dance is included.
The Sculpture Garden is open until the end of October. If you haven’t got the time to pay them a visit yourself, the website gives a very good idea of the park: accompanied by birdsongs, the video tour wanders through a green paradise.
More info: www.hannahpescharsculpture.com/
Published on August 2018
