Autumn Windows

National Trust Dyffryn Gardens Autumn 2025

Autumn Windows followed on from my Spring installation at Dyffryn Gardens, working with the base frame from that structure to make something new using only found materials from the onsite aboretum.

The structure was built from storm damaged trees and highlighted the special qualities of each different bark and the tiny lives that go on within this “dead” wood within the cracks of its skin. Within the sculpture are oak, birch, lime, spruce and acer, and the building of it by hand allowed for a close connection with the different weights and textures of each tree, with the design dictated by the materials and their properties. The holm oak is dense and sturdy; the lime has a textured bark full of life, with many mosses and lichens; the acer delicately curvy, with a bark that peels off in curling flakes, and the birch fast burning in life and death, with a skin of papery sheets.

The sculpture was situated on the path at the entry point to the Arboretum, welcoming visitors to pass through into a space full of Autumn colour.

Around the gardens, smaller windows drew attention to microcosms within the vastness of the gardens- the delicate shape of the acer leaves, the peeling eucalyptus bark, and the fungi living inside fallen trees.

At the end of the installation, the materials will be chipped and returned to the soil to feed future trees in the gardens, completing the circle.

Thanks to the team and volunteers at Dyffryn Gardens for support in creating the installation.

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