Cut Back

Cutting back plant life growing on derelict land is a way of managing the site, ensuring trees do not mature to become valued and preserved. This process devalues the land keeping the site ready for development. Fortuitously this harsh disturbance of brownfield land creates the exact conditions to generate high biodiversity, with a more species rich plant and insect life.

The form of the sculpture is influenced both by clusters of building materials which randomly appear on the site and the re-growth of willow which each year is cut back to ground level. The ground where the sculpture is placed is gravel with very little soil and a top layer of low growing plants. The willow would only push into areas that had enough depth to support the sticks, some areas were too compacted with previous derelict materials now unseen. 

The willow used is kiln dried willow, commonly used for basket weaving, also known as buff willow or withies.  Painted and varnished in the studio over several months and then pushed into the earth to form the sculpture.