Chichester-based contemporary sculptor Helen Solly has drawn inspiration from Denmans Garden for a new exhibition in the garden running until the end of August.
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00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.
00:06 Lovely to speak this morning to the sculptor Helen Solley from Chichester. Now, Helen,
00:10 you've got a fabulous ending exhibition which stretches months ahead to the end of August
00:14 in Denman's Garden. Now, what was the brief? What were you asked to do?
00:22 Hello, I make large metal sculptures and I went to Denman's Garden and met Gwendoline, who is the
00:30 owner, and we walked around the garden and I was, it's a beautiful garden near the A27 in Chichester
00:37 and it's like an oasis. It's a lovely calm environment full of different shapes and colours,
00:45 quite a Mediterranean feel and they have some bright blue benches and I designed some powder
00:54 coated steel bright blue sculptures that really stand out and also some stainless steel organic
01:05 shapes and the sun shines on the reflections of the stainless steel and looks really great against
01:13 the backdrop of the greenery and, you know, the different areas of the garden.
01:21 And that's part of the reason you've called it Reflections, isn't it?
01:23 Yes, so the reflections of the surface of the metal that reflect the sunlight, but also
01:33 the reflections of people walking around the garden in this tranquil space.
01:41 So, yeah.
01:41 Did you find that the garden really spoke to you then? Was it saying things to you and inspiring
01:48 you?
01:48 Yes, definitely. As I walked around, I was looking at all the different shapes.
01:52 There's quite a lot of topiary shapes, some big circles, a lot of the ponds and beds are curves,
02:03 so I've sort of incorporated that into my work, the curves and circles and shapes as well.
02:09 And then there's one quite dramatic piece that has two people holding hands
02:16 that are in the walled garden, and that was inspired because of the other
02:22 sort of pyramid and triangle shapes that I saw in that shape, in that space.
02:26 Oh, that sounds great. And the other meaning of the word reflections that you touched on just now,
02:32 it's just a chance to sit and think.
02:35 Yes, and have a quiet time just sitting on one of the benches and looking at the garden.
02:39 It is, it's a beautiful, tranquil space and a really nice place to visit.
02:48 And hopefully my contemporary sculptures, they fit really well.
02:52 There's 10 sculptures spaced throughout the garden, so you just suddenly come across one
03:00 as you're wandering around. They're not sort of all the first thing you see in the middle of the
03:06 lawn, you know, they're tucked away, one on a wall in a wooded area, one by the pond, you know,
03:12 so as you wander around and then you come across these fairly contemporary sculptures, but they
03:19 do sit nicely in that space.
03:21 And about 10 pieces in all.
03:25 Yes, and it's on throughout the summer. So there'll be different colours of the
03:31 flowers and plants, you know, will change as the year, at the moment, there is actually quite a
03:37 lot of blue from the flowers, but that'll obviously change as the summer goes on with
03:44 roses and different flowers and stuff as well.
03:47 Fantastic. Well, you make it sound very appealing. It's also part of this summer's
03:51 Festival of Chichester, but the exhibition goes beyond that until the end of August.
03:55 Helen, lovely to speak to you and congratulations on the exhibition. Thank you.
03:59 Thank you.