Our Colour Reflection creates a conversation between the viewer and the setting using more than 765 mirrors made of coloured acrylic. There are 15 colours in all and the mirrors with diameters of 30, 40, 50 and 60cm are set at different heights so that they both reflect the roof space of the old nave, revealing parts of the architecture that would otherwise be invisible, and project colour up into the historic interior. It is playful, elegant and engaging but also thoughtful.
Taking time to research and consider the history of the building and the weight of connotations it holds as a former place of worship, West studied the stained glass and considered the importance of light within the space. ‘This has allowed me to make sure the work is grounded within its site but also holds its own voice within the grandeur and information that the space brings to the conversation,’ she says.
There is an element of performance to this work; it puts the audience to the fore, demanding a response, in West’s words ‘physically, emotionally, psychologically or even spiritually.’ Viewers will each have their own perspectives and their own experiences tempered by movement through the space and through time. By going unplugged here, West emphasises that while artificial light can be manipulated it can only, at best, replicate the dynamism, shifting mood and changes in quality embodied in natural light" - Francis Pearce
Photographs © Hannah Devereux
LIZ WEST
Liz West is a British artist (b.1985) who graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2007. West’s broad body of work encompasses site-specific installations, sculpture, and wall-based artwork.
West creates vivid environments that mix luminous colour and radiant light. West aims to provoke a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer through her works. She is interested in exploring how sensory phenomena can invoke psychological and physical responses that tap into our own deeply entrenched relationships to colour. West's investigation into the relationship between colour and light is often realised through an engagement between materiality and a given site. Our understanding of colour can only be realised through the presence of light. By playing and adjusting colour, West brings out the intensity and composition of her spatial arrangements.
West has been commissioned worldwide by institutions and organisations including Natural History Museum, National Trust, National Science and Media Museum, London Design Festival, Natural England, Allied London, Grosvenor, British Land, Salford University, Leftcoast, Allenheads Contemporary Arts, Eden Arts and Bristol Biennial. West's work has been included in exhibitions with St Albans Museum + Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, Chester Cathedral, Compton Verney, Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces, Cornerhouse, Brunel University, Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, UK Young Artists and Royal British Society of Sculptors in the UK, as well as internationally in Milan, Dubai, Paris, Berlin and New York. Permanent works are sited in London, Manchester and Bury. Her work has been widely published including by Wallpaper*, FRAME Magazine, The Creator's Project, Design Boom, Huffington Post, Colossal, Thames & Hudson, Gingko Press, The World of Interiors, The Times and The Independent.