Strawberry Hill Installation - visitors guide
‘Parched’ - AN installation at Strawberry Hill House
September 10th-13th 2026
Overarching Brief
Featured artist: Fiona Pickles
Incorporate an ‘edge’ or backdrop
No introduction of fresh materials
No physical attachment to the building in accordance with conservation requirements
Work sensitively within the existing architectural context
Artistic vision
Reimagine the room as an intimate gallery space
A deliberately limited material palette, sourced entirely from the artist’s garden and immediate landscape (West Yorkshire)
Elevate the ordinary through transformation, composition and scale
Create theatrical impact while retaining an intimacy of detail
The Tribune - Strawberry Hill House
‘Fiona’s installation ‘Parched’ draws inspiration from our arid, fire-scorched landscape while paying homage to the room’s original purpose - a private treasure chamber for objects of curiosity, aesthetic distinction and sentimental value.
It showcases floral artistry alongside natural, plant- and earth-based processes including paper making and sculpture, carbonised flowers, weaving and natural dyeing.
Moving between the monumental and the minute, Fiona shifts our perspective from an overwhelming sense of scale to moments of intense, intimate attention. Ordinary and overlooked objects are elevated as prized artworks in their own right, inviting us to see and value them as much as she does.’
Curatorial statement : Sept 2026
The central sculpture
Form
A freestanding, self-supporting structure built around a framework of branches
A translucent ‘edge’ fashioned out of botanical handmade paper defines the silhouette of the sculpture and constitutes a delicate frame to the splendour of the room beyond
Artistic intention
Create a sun-bleached, desiccated quality by maintaining a restrained colour palette, drawn from hues of the desert
Evoke the widespread parched landscape, drought and wildfires experienced across the land during the summer of 2026
Draw attention to the transformation of humble and discarded materials
Materials & Making
The paper ‘edge’ consists of handmade papers:
Formed from thistledown
Ordinary paper exposed to the elements, inviting the garden to leave its imprint
Paper cast directly onto the studio floor, capturing its indentations, textures and marks
Other noteworthy ingredients:
Snail-damaged leaves and other materials commonly regarded as waste
Flowers, grasses and twigs dipped or embedded in paper pulp and/or combined with paper
Woven vines
Handmade paper dyed with earth pigments
Handmade papers formed out of dandelion clocks, cleavers, mulberry and mares-tail
Smaller works & interventions
Fire damage
A ‘fire-damaged’ plinth supporting a floral arrangement evokes the impact of wildfire
Carbon & iron
Brittle flowers transformed by fire, their forms preserved in carbon, are counterbalanced by raw iron ore and its weathered, manufactured counterpart under glass
Black chest
Two amphora vases containing prized ‘detritus’ and a mounted fragment of bark, creating a small-scale assemblage of collected and elevated materials
Window sills
A selection of some of my favourite gathered objects and materials
A paper specimen mount presented in the manner of a natural-history collection, elevating samples of the handmade botanical papers to objects of study and display
handmade paper samples on the ‘Specimen Mount’
1 Tulip stems
2 Recycled paper dyed with red ochre earth pigment
3 Mares tail
4 Paper exposed to garden elements
5 Dandelion clocks
6 Recycled paper
7 Thistledown with mulberry
8 Mulberry
9 Red ochre paper cast directly onto the studio floor
10 Pure thistledown
11 Cleavers
12 Wet-embossed recycled paper
13 Recycled paper dyed with homegrown coreopsis
Meet the Artist
Join Fiona in the Marquee at 1pm on Thursday 10th September for her talk / demonstration “Working with the Wild”.
As well as making one of her artful floral designs as a live demonstration, Fiona will also share some of the processes, inspiration and intentions behind the installation ‘Parched’. There will also be the opportunity for questions.
the wider Flower Festival
Dates
Runs from Thursday 10th September to Sunday 13th September 9am-5pm with talks and demonstrations running throughout - included in each days General Admission - more details
Curators
Visitors Guide - Note
This guide has been created as a live resource for visitors during the festival.
A fuller record of the installation, including images and further insight into the individual works and materials, will be developed once the festival has concluded for those unable to attend in person.