Buckholt Bryngaer X Hereford College of Arts - Sculpture Trail

Name: Hereford College of Arts
Price range: $

Published

4th December 2024
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Buckholt Bryngaer and Hereford College of Arts have partnered to create a series of new artworks for Buckholt wood. Four of our students are exhibiting work alongside established Fine Artist Michael Lawrence. The five sculptures are positioned across the beautiful landscapes of Buckholt wood.

These are the sculptural pieces in order of appearance - visit Buckholt woods in Monmouthshire to see the work in person.

An embroidered tree with gaps so you can see the forest through the embroidered branches.

Rebecca Baddeley

Student, Rebecca Baddely’s textile banner sculpture honours Buckholt Bryngaer’s Iron Age history, blending historical themes with modern textile art in harmony with the natural landscape. The banner, inspired by the fort’s resilience and community, is suspended between timbers that evoke its wooden ramparts. Iron Age motifs reflect the fort’s defensive structures and movement in the wind will represent the passage of time, linking past and present. The banner uses natural cotton fabrics, coloured natural dyes such as nettle and birch alongside more modern, recycled textiles, bridging history and the present. Local timbers have been sourced to minimize environmental impact.

Find out more about our BA(Hons) Fine Art course

Emily Hedges

Emily is a part-time Fine Art BA student. Her work has been inspired by the quiet concentration of the dig at Buckholt Bryngaer, reflecting the delicacy of archaeological work and the thrill of anticipation - of potentially uncovering something rare. Emily has collected nine different soils from the site and used them to permanently mark clay tiles that echo the shape of Iron Age axe heads. The tiles have been through a saggar firing, resulting in subtle variations in colour and texture. It’s an unpredictable process which mirrors the experience of the diggers, who are never sure what they might find. Visitors will come across the pieces hung from trees in the woodland lining the sculpture trail - and can hold them in their palm as an archaeologist might examine an artefact they’ve unearthed from the soil.

Find out more about our BA(Hons) Fine Art course

Michael Lawrence

Established artist, Michael Lawrence, has created large wooden pieces for private and public spaces using both traditional and contemporary techniques. His sculptures have a human element that goes beyond the material object. His work often portrays the human form in a playful way, exploring scale and ordinary moments. The sculptures capture a movement or feeling, suggesting a life within.

Find out more about Michael's body of work

Bex Wood

Student, Bex Wood, has created a large moss-covered sculpture of a dog emerging from the ground. Dogs have a long history of being known for their loyalty, protection, and companionship. As the hill forts were designed for protection, it is only appropriate to use an animal that is well known for being protective. Only the dog’s head and back appears above ground, giving it the appearance of being partially buried, as if, like the fort, the dog has been there for centuries and, over time, has become part of the landscape. The dog's mound-like form will also reflect the shape of the long barrow that has been identified between the Iron Age hill fort and the Neolithic site.

Find out more about our BA(Hons) Fine Art course

A wooden tripod with hanging pieces of iron suspended from the centre

Mike Layward

Student, Mike Layward’s Tripod triptych is a sculptural/sound artwork consisting of three 2.5-metre-high tripods made of hazel poles, willow and sedge grass, with recycled iron pieces suspended beneath the tripods. The public will be encouraged to play the tripods to create improvised, discordant haunting sounds, which will have a potentially infinite number of sound compositions. The artwork is playful, sustainable, interactive and aesthetically pleasing.

Find out more about our BA(Hons) Fine Art course

Buckholt Bryngaer CIC is a community interest company supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. It works in partnership with voluntary groups, local authorities and agencies to give young people, refugees and those lacking opportunity the chance to enjoy nature and heritage.