Laura Ellen Bacon commission under way at Blackwell in Windermere

Willow artwork by Laura Ellen Bacon under construction at Blackwell, March 2012

Contemporary maker Laura Ellen Bacon is part of the way through installing her spectacular temporary art commission on the facade of Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House in Bowness-on Windermere. The work has been developed in direct response to Laura’s knowledge and experience of Blackwell, its landscape environment and the climate within which it exists. 

The installation, Exposed, comprises of two large-scale curvaceous structures in red willow bonded to the building, which was built in 1900, and the retaining wall of one of the garden terraces. The form of the two ‘clinging’ structures, which will span two floors of the external elevation when complete, will emphasise their fragility against the relative permanence of the house. Installation began on 12th March, and the artwork will be on display at Blackwell until 30th September 2012. 


Laura Ellen Bacon was selected as a Jerwood Contemporary Maker 2010. Her work is site-specific and ecologically sound; she creates large scale ‘morphing’ structures, most often woven in willow or other coppiced materials.

Laura has said about her work:
"My large-scale installations are almost always built on site, allowing me to form the works in a way that truly fits its location. I began making my early works upon dry stone walls and evolved to work within trees, riverbanks and hedges, allowing the chosen structure (be it organic or man-made) to become host. Over a decade into my work, my passions have returned to not only merging with dry stone walls, but to the powerful connections with architecture. My work has to fuse with a building to succeed, both aesthetically and practically. The forms I make have such a closeness with the fabric of the building, their oozing energy spills from gutters, their 'muscular' forms nuzzle up to the glass and their gripping weave locks onto the strength of the walls. Whilst the scale and impact varies from striking to subtle (sometimes only visible upon a quizzical double take), I relish the opportunity to let the building 'feed' the form, as if some part of the building is exhaling into the work."