Colour on reflection

15 November 2024 – 5 January 2025 - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This winter, the historic Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) will transform into a joyful display of colour and light by artist Liz West.

Our Colour Reflection is an immersive artwork by Liz West that combines vibrant colours and radiant light, creating a captivating sensory experience for YSP’s visitors to enjoy. Launching during Wakefield’s Our Year Light Up festival (15-17 November 2024), the much-loved 18th-century Chapel will be filled with endorphin-boosting light during the darker months.

The artwork comprises hundreds of mirrored discs in 15 vivid colours that will carpet the Chapel’s main space. Set at different heights, they capture and emit natural and artificial light, reflecting architectural details that might otherwise go unnoticed, drenching the interior with colour. Dynamic and constantly changing through each day, the reflections will respond to the weather and light quality outside.

A pathway leads through the artwork, inviting visitors to become immersed in its radiating colour. Moving through the work adds a subtle element of performance and participation, and a heightened sensory awareness that brings a feeling of warmth and wellbeing.

Liz West said: “Yorkshire Sculpture Park has always been a part of my life in many different ways. Exhibiting at the Park feels like a pivotal moment and like I have come full circle. Living locally, I was taken to YSP as a child back in the 80s and 90s - I have seen the Park evolve over the decades and new spaces open, I worked in the shops and as a gallery invigilator during my holidays from art school in the 2000s and have brought my own family and friends to visit as an adult. I am beyond delighted to be exhibiting my work Our Colour Reflection in the Chapel this winter. I look forward to seeing visitors reactions to the coloured reflections and changing light in the space.”

Locally born West, who went to school in Wakefield, has a creative practice that draws on colour theory, the way we perceive and understand light, and how it affects us psychologically. She has drawn inspiration from artists working with these concepts and materials, such as Dan Flavin and Olafur Eliasson, as well as James Turrell, whose Deer Shelter Skyspace at YSP she has visited over many years.

Our Colour Reflection is supported by a Culture Grant from Wakefield Council and Our Year, a year-long project of creative activities across the Wakefield District, and lighting company, formalighting Ltd. The artwork was originally commissioned by 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, North Lincolnshire in 2016 with support from Arts Council England.

With the vital support of a Culture Grant, YSP, a registered charity and accredited museum, has been able to further invest in its schools and community programme over the coming year. This support will help build upon existing relationships with local charities, Wakefield’s Well Women’s Centre, Star Bereavement and Early Help, through the delivery of artist-led sessions.

YSP is collaborating with four local primary and secondary schools recommended by Future in Mind, the Mental Health Support Team from Wakefield’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Pupils will take part in a workshop at YSP and at their school, inspired by Our Colour Reflection, with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops for teachers across the region. Participating schools include Kings Meadow Academy, Pontefract; Three Lane Ends Academy, Castleford; Mackie Hill Junior and Infant School, Crigglestone; and St Thomas à Becket Catholic Secondary School, Wakefield which was attended by Liz West, who will lead on these sessions.

Available for sale is a collection of three, playful, striped concertina prints, handcrafted by the artist herself, along side a limited edition print entitled Pick and Mix which has been created especially for YSP to coincide with this show. YSP is a charity, and all proceeds from sales supports its work inspiring all people to enjoy and engage with art, nature and creativity.