During my first visit to The Vyne, two things immediately struck me – the beauty of the magnificent grounds and the layer upon layer of history in the house, connecting important figures such as Henry VIII and Jane Austen. The intense atmosphere created an emotional response that I wanted to capture using my 3D collage techniques. Having chosen the Library for my installation, armed with a scalpel I built a micro environment made from hundreds of carefully sourced vintage books, specifically selected to reflect the collection displayed on the library shelves. Importantly the books had to contain relevant imagery for me to cut and collage, including fauna, the hunt and dandies on the Grand Tour, enabling me to bring the stories of The Vyne to life.

Whilst exploring the house I felt an uncomfortable, eerie pervading mood. This inspired the ghostly vision of the chair being knocked over and the selection of paragraphs from the horror novel The Werewolf, cut into strips, which shape the waterfall and river. This mini adventure tells a narrative in true popup style, flowing across the table, like the river of words, like the river surrounding The Vyne, like the stories the novelists wrote that were inspired by the house.