Sandra Priseman shares with us her experiences as the 2023 commissioned artist in residence at RHS Wisley Gardens.
This project is part of the Here We Are programme, made possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
Hi, I am Sandra Priseman. I am at Wisley for the DAiSY residency. I wanted to share my experiences of being at Wisley so far…
I had an amazing visit to the Herbarium, I have been collecting leaves and experimenting with rubbing them onto paper. This was inspired by the Herbarium where the pressed leaves and flowers leave marks on the blotting paper. My favourite thing was seeing how they display the plant samples once they have been pressed, it takes lots of dedicated hard work. I went to the fungi day which was a wealth of information and I enjoyed doing the children’s activities. I discovered there is fungi called Dog Vomit! The library had a talk on ‘wonderful weeds’ and they showed some books that were over 100 years old.
Inspired by the ‘The Dancing Hare’ sculpture by Sophie Ryder and with the help of my mentor Robin Vaughan Williams I have started to form some poetry ideas. Prior to my Wisley residency I had visited Sophie’s exhibition at the Light Box in Woking. I found the sculptures fascinating as she uses every day found objects in her work for example; cogs, spanners, giant pegs.
I am starting my silver Birch project. I am giving people I meet, including participants at Creative Response, pieces of bark and asking them to write on the bark what nature means to them and how it can influence mental health in a positive way.
I have found lots of lovely places to have tea and lunch and particularly like the ‘Sky Terrace’ and its amazing views over the scenery at Wisley.
Click here to find out more about our RHS Wisley Partnership Commissions
