Inspired by LBTY: Adelphi Sun by Jess Wheeler
The multidisciplinary artist crafts a sculptural vision of Liberty LBTY. Adelphi Sun
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Inspired by LBTY: Adelphi Sun by Jess Wheeler
The multidisciplinary artist crafts a sculptural vision of Liberty LBTY. Adelphi Sun
By: Team LibertyInterviewed by George Serventi
A deep-rooted passion for artistic expression lies at the heart of Liberty, from the Tudor foundations of our store upwards and outwards. The exquisite world of Liberty’s LBTY. Fragrance is no exception, guided by a passion for creativity and collaboration, celebrating history and heritage with an eye to the future.
And what better way to explore the intricacies of the Liberty’s LBTY. Fragrance collection than by continuing our close collaboration with the creative world? We’re tasking a series of contemporary creatives with reimagining each scent through their unique artistic media as part of our Inspired by LBTY. series.
Based in Dorset, Jess Wheeler’s practice pays homage to the natural world around her. Inspired by walks in nature, where she gathers fallen leaves and materials that form the basis of her creations, her artworks are textural and evocative considerations of flora and fauna – often with a practical purpose.
For her interpretation of Liberty LBTY. Fragrance’s Adelphi Sun, she looked both to the fragrance and her natural surroundings: inspired by the scent’s sunshine notes and a heart note of Linden, which grows locally to her home.
Here, she talks us through her artistic process and the creation of her sunshine infused artwork.
Can you describe your work and your style?
I make sculpture and sculptural lighting inspired by the natural world. Nature is a constantly changing source of inspiration for me.
When did you first start working in sculptural form?
I first started my practice as a set designer about 10 years ago. I made sets out of natural materials: leaves, soil and moss. This progressed into making sculptural lights and forms, all inspired by nature using sustainable materials.
Why do you think you're so inspired by nature?
I live in a really rural part of West Dorset and the nature and landscapes are really varied. I live by the sea, with beautiful hills around.
I'm a very keen gardener, so I'm always looking at the forms and shapes of leaves and plants that I'm growing. I have to walk every day and I'm always gathering materials from my walks of interesting shapes that I then bring back to the workshop and sculpt into something functional.
What do you find you're most excited to work with?
This time of year, in the spring, when leaves and trees are suddenly coming alive is really exciting and I'm forever gather gathering arms full of leaves and bringing them back and making moulds and casts of them. You can only really cast from evergreen leaves, so in winter your materials are quite paired back. It's a really exciting time of year for that.
Tell us about your process when you're creating your pieces.
When I'm walking and finding my materials, I will always look at the back of the leaf because the texture of the veins on the back is what I want to be casting. I bring those back to the workshop and look at how they move naturally and try and make sure that my cast has some movement.
Quite often, as I'm pouring plaster onto the leaf, and I'll put things underneath it to make sure that when it dries it has nice movement. At the moment I'm working with really thin plaster casts, which means that the light can shine through them, which is what I've done for this piece of work.
How important is it to your work that everything is a one off?
Because I'm casting directly from life from nature, every leaf is obviously completely different, which means that the forms that are created are all completely unique.
When I'm making work like this, I'm casting directly from life, which means that all the shapes and compositions are completely different and unique, which means that the work crosses a really nice place of sculpture and functional lighting. The light will shine through each work in a completely unique way and I think it makes it kind of special.
Where did you find inspiration for this interpretation of Adelphi Sun?
I thought it'd be really nice to create something that glows, because the fragrance is called Adelphi Sun. I wanted to translate the sun shining through leaves and creating a dappled effect. As you smell it, it feels like sun setting on like a warm day. The scent is fresh and summery.
At this time of year, leaves are bright green and beautiful when light shines through them. I wanted to translate that. One of the notes in the scent is Linden, and where I live in the village there's an amazing, big Linden tree. I've taken leaves from that Linden tree and cast those from life.
How important is being creative to you?
For me, creating things is an urge that happens every day and running a business means that sometimes you have days where you're on the computer, but I need to find time every single day to be inspired, be outside, be making something with my hands or looking. It's a really fundamental part of me.
What does Liberty mean to you?
Liberty is such an iconic shop, it's such an inspiring old building full of really, current exciting things happening. The focus on craft and newness and making as well as traditional processes is really inspiring.
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