We’re delighted to welcome a new artwork to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. This magnificent arrival takes pride in place near the top of the gardens overlooking a beautiful view of St Michael’s Mount and Mounts Bay, offering a sense of euphoria.
From This Day On, 2023 is a site-specific installation by Alastair and Fleur Mackie. The work, located at the brow of Tremenheere wood, consists of a large oak stump mounted upon a broad concrete platform.
‘Set amid native trees and shrubs, the scarred and contorted heartwood mass is exactly where it belongs to be. Whilst at the same time its fabricated stage quietly isolates it from the ground – rendering it simultaneously in and out of context.
There is a balance between the ‘found’ object and the ‘made’ structure; the artificial frame grants its subject a solitude and a gravitas; a call for reassessment. Yet the tree remnant has been offered back to the landscape as itself; again allowed to resume a slow metamorphosis of decaying and becoming, only now conforming to a different set of rules and taking on new values as a work of art.’
Alastair grew up in a coastal farming community in South Cornwall while Fleur’s childhood was split between Cameroon, France, and the UK. They met at art school in London in the late 90’s and over time their work has evolved into a close collaboration. In 2011, they moved to North Cornwall, the landscape of which has played a central part in the shaping of their vocabulary.
Both born in 1977, Alastair and Fleur have shown extensively in the UK and internationally, including exhibitions at the Busan Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Biennale and the Reykjavik Art Museum. They have worked on a number of public commissions and their work is held in collections including The Eres Foundation – Munich and the Welcome Collection – London.
At Tremenheere, trees are important to us with our woodland being 200 years old in parts including species such as oak and beech. This incredible site-specific installation works in perfect tandem with our values, and we’re honoured to have such a large piece of work from this talented pair of artists in such a beautiful area of the gardens.
You can visit the installation in Tremenheere’s gardens daily, 10.30am – 4.30pm with last entry at 3.30pm, admission prices apply. Find out more about Alastair and Fleur Mackie via their website and Instagram @alastairandfleurmackie.