Mark Hearld

Artist and Curator

When re-imagining the British Folk Art Collection I wanted to soften the space and make it more domestic. I immediately thought of designing a wallpaper that would connect the collection to the house and the grounds.

I have long admired and taken inspiration from Enid Marx’s textile designs and it felt appropriate to create my own pattern as part of the re-display.
The swan on its river references the gilded swan sign, and sheep and cedar trees relate both to the grounds and the collection. Fish swim through the water creating movement and flow to carry the eye along the gallery wall. I designed the pattern as a lino-cut and this was the basis for a traditional roller-printed wallpaper.

As part of my re-imagining of the British Folk Art Collection I felt it would be exciting to make a large scale work as a visual foil for the military quilt at the far end of this gallery, something that had graphic impact and scale – in effect a paper collage quilt. I decided that a large scale work made up of a series of individual pieces would be an interesting way to respond. I’ve attempted to create my own Folk Art world, with motifs that echo objects and images in the collection and draw upon a cast of characters from my own menagerie of birds and beasts.