On the work of Laura Ellen Bacon
Adriena Pekárová
„Wicker weaver“ Laura Ellen Bacon creates large scale structures woven in willow bonded to the buildings and the retaining walls, dramatically or delicately occupying the space. Laura Ellen Bacon creates the structures which are partly sculptures, craft pieces or artworks and confronts their fragility with stability of architecture buildings they are bonded to. Her current work is rooted in her childhood when she made houses from wicker and tree branches. She revived her childhood dreams at the University of Derby and has developed them into new dimensions. Laura uses plastic and other materials, however, she prefers to work with red wicker. It is apparent that she understands nature and has good understanding of architecture and space. Laura says: “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 installation at Blackwell one could follow step-by-step online. “My work is often created for public locations and as my work is almost always built on site, this means that my work is sometimes seen during creation. … My method is like an ongoing sketch, which I really enjoy – willing the chaos of the sticks into smooth form.”