Summer of sculpture awaits visitors at Marks Hall Estate in Coggeshall as 300 art works are exhibited

Mark Edwards previews the event and speaks to sculptor Mel Fraser, who is will be placing eight of her works among the worldwide tree collection

The stunning 200 acres of historic landscape at Marks Hall Gardens and Arboretum has been created with a sculptural eye, guiding you through in sweeping vistas of trees from all five continents, but this summer there will be far more striking creations to catch the eye.

Mel Fraser with her Venus sculpture

From July 29 to September 10 the second Fine Outdoor Exhibition of Sculpture will take place at the estate in Coggeshall.

It involves 300 works of art from 60 sculptors from this country and abroad thoughtfully placed throughout the garden.

On show will be works in a huge variety of materials, including stone, marble and metal as well as glass, wire, wood and willow.

Rebecca Lee, general manager at Marks Hall, says: “This is a prestigious event, which will showcase the work of carefully chosen sculptors in an inspiring heritage landscape.

“The inaugural exhibition was hosted in 2015 and was received as a huge success. The feedback from our members and visitors was overwhelmingly positive and we plan to better this popular event in 2017.”

Preparations are well under way to bring these often huge and heavy - and very precious - works of art into the gardens, but once installed Rebecca hopes they will have visitors re-examining the space and learning more about the landscape.

Rebecca has long been passionate in her intention to bring art to Marks Hall.

She says: “Seeing sculpture here deepens our understanding of the landscape, it gives us a different perspective of the space and makes us re-examine pockets of the garden that we may not have considered before.”

In order to stage a successful exhibition a lot of work goes in to recruiting, organising and co-ordinating the sculptors who will exhibit. Marks Hall works with David Waghorne, from Sculpture Events, to ensure the best possible blend of styles and materials is represented.

David, who has curated the event, says: “I have been organising exhibitions of sculpture since 2009 and in that time I have built up a sizeable directory of sculptors in all styles and mediums.

“I research and recruit around 30 to 50 new sculptors every year, hence we have some returning to Marks Hall with new pieces but out of 60 sculptors 44 are new to the venue.

“I select them primarily on the basis of the nature of the site, so for Marks Hall there are larger pieces needed on the approaches to the walled garden area and second lake, while the walled garden area gives us more intermediate and intimate spaces in a range of garden back drops that will relate to a lot of visitors.

“Each siting is with agreement of the sculptor although I would have thought of the strongest possibilities before they arrive.”

Futuristic - a piece from the 2015 exhibition

Among the sculptors exhibiting at Marks Hall for the first time is Mel Fraser, a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, who has had work commissioned as far afield as Hong Kong and New York.

The Cambridge-based artist has visited Marks Hall in preparation for the event, discussing with David where her works would best and is very excited to be involved.

She says: “I was thrilled to be asked. I walked around the grounds with David, who I’ve worked with before, and I could see the potential and how much care and attention has gone into it.”

Mel is bringing eight of her works to the Gondwanaland area of the arboretum, which is filled with trees, shrubs and grasses from the southern hemisphere - “I saw wonderfully shaped eucalyptus trees there,” Mel says.

Some of her larger works will be out in the open, while others, Mel says, you will “just come across, that’s the magic of sculpture”.

She works with a variety of materials - granite, marble, soft stone and alabaster - and is so exacting on the quality she thinks nothing of travelling to quarries in Spain and Italy to source her stone.

Two of the works to be displayed at Marks Hall are made from raw materials brought from Zimbabwe, where Mel spent time working with the Shona tribe.

“I have two figurative works called Everyone and Venus for which I used Zimbabwean Springstone. The Shona people call it the dream stone and say you can’t impose your will on it.

“The Marks Hall show will be the first time these works have been exhibited to the public.”

Mel’s talents as a sculptor have led to her being commissioned to design a work, called Angel Wing, for the Opus hotel in Hong Kong, which was designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, and last year she was “rather chuffed to be part of the gang” as she was ushered in to the Royal British Society of Sculptors.

As to the muse for her striking works, she says: “I’m open to an unconscious level of inspiration. I’m always searching for the idea resting in my mind.”

The search is hard work, though, and Mel impresses the sculptor’s life is not always a glamorous one - rooting through quarries, getting covered in slurry and blasting away with angle grinders.

As Mel says: “I wouldn’t want to live next door to me.”

• The Fine Outdoor Exhibition of Sculpture runs at Marks Hall, in Coggeshall, from July 29 to September 10, Tuesday to Sunday 10am until 5pm. Call the Visitor Centre on 01376 563796 for more details.
• All items are for sale, visitors can purchase an exhibition catalogue which lists all the information about the pieces including the name of the piece, the sculptor and the materials used as well as the price.
• Money from the sales goes towards supporting the work of the charity in protecting and enhancing the landscape of Mark Hall for generations to come.