Sally Matthews at work on her Bison in Tyrebagger Forest, Aberdeen
The image is from a photograph collection that was originally stored at Kincardine Forest District.
This series of beautifully taken images in black and white square format photographs by as yet unknown photographer show Sally focussing on her work to create a small herd of bison sculptures in the forest. The evocative craggy, earth like images with shaggy mantels silently waiting in the gloom hark back millennia when forest users could have encountered the live animal forebears briefly before they vanished into the natural forest of those days.
Sally Matthews at work on one of her group of iconic ‘Bison’ constructions. Sally writes: ‘I had visited the Highland Wildlife Park to study European Bison and had made Bison for exhibition before. My work tries to make animals so the onlooker initially sees the real animal and not art. So I was excited to be asked to make something for Tyrebagger and knew instantly that I would make Bison. The Bison at Tyrebagger were made on a steel and chicken wire frame with found wooden shoulders, horns and possibly hips and ribs to emphasis the form. The body was filled out with brash and coir fibre (to preserve peat) and forest floor mixed with pva glue, which was sprayed with a waterproofer to slightly lengthen their lifespan. Dark sheep’s wool was then thrown over their shoulders and pushed into some areas to echo their thick coat.’
The PDF below is a series of images of work in progress.
Download Large Version (927kB)
Groups: Forestry Areas, Northeast Scotland , Recreation Activities and Art in the Forest