My inspiration this week comes from an artwork shown at a garden sculpture exhibition at Sudeley Castle; this is Simplified Mirror Labyrinth, by Jeppe Hein. The contemporary use of mirror to reflects back Sudeley’s semi-ruins and old-world planting works beautifully.
I like the idea of using mirror playfully and imaginatively in the garden…the surfaces can give unexpected shine and movement in dark corners, and also works in doubling the planting.
Arik Levy’s round, knee-high ‘Moon Tables’ at the same exhibition aimed for a similar twist of perspective, as did 2009’s Serpentine Pavillion’s reflective ceilings . On a far grander scale are Anish Kapoor’s huge convex and concave mirrors from his ‘Turning the World Upside Down’ series in Kensington Gardens.
Mirror has the uncanny knack of flipping, framing and presenting you back a picture of something strangely familiar yet also wonderfully other-worldly. Try angling a couple of mirrors in a green and gloomy corner, and reflect on what you see…