The Sculptor and the Landscape

Fine art is at home in the garden as well as the gallery, says Nicole Swengley

Sculpture is hot news. The Royal Academy's current show, Modern British Sculpture - the first on the subject for 30 years, is whipping up controversy. A collection of virtually unknown Barbara Hepworth pieces, gifted by the Hepworth Estate, is generating excitement around the Hepworth Wakefield, an art gallery opening in the sculptor's home town in May. Meanwhile garden exhibitions nationwide, including the Chelsea Flower Show, will highlight the latest designs incorporating sculpture. Many gardeners welcome the visual foil that a well-chosen sculpture provides. Some enjoy the contemplative aspects that a thoughtfully placed piece can bring. However, it's a thorny subject for purists who see little need for non-naturalistic intervention in a garden. And, admittedly, too often there's an aesthetic gap between artistic show garden sculptures and designs used domestically (leaping leprechauns, anyone?).

The shape of things to come

Designers do agree, however, that the relationship between shape and location is key. "You can't place a sculpture anywhere - it needs to resonate with its surroundings," says Cleve West, who is creating the Telegraph's Chelsea show garden. He cites a scheme for a client in Normandy where he contrasted big, simple shapes - steel pyramids and spheres - with wild planting in a large garden surrounding a rebuilt farmhouse. "The forms were quite stark but created a dynamic that enlivened the garden and related to the architectural austerity of the house," he says.

At Chelsea, he will place a series of columns made in a concrete/terracotta mix by sculptors Serge Bottagisio and Agnes Decoux within a scheme loosely inspired by the Roman ruins at Ptolemaïs in Libya.

"I want to show how you can use contemporary sculpture effectively within a traditional or historic setting," he says. "These will be simple forms, quite large and mainly geometrical. People are often timid about putting large forms in gardens but the scale and volume of these pieces adds drama and sets up a contrast with the informal planting.

"Using repetitive forms is one of the simplest tricks to make a garden feel more harmonious," he adds. "Repetition comforts the eye and brain, whether it's a series of giant urns or contemporary forms. The best shapes are big and simple, complemented by planting. It's best to avoid too many busy, different forms." For anyone on a limited budget he suggests using hedging and topiary to achieve a similar effect. "You can have lots of fun by becoming a sculptor yourself and tweaking it once or twice a year," he says.

Art vs ornament

A divide even more significant than price, though, is noted by Luciano Giubbilei, who is designing Laurent-Perrier's Chelsea show garden for the second time (he won a gold medal in 2009). "There's a difference between art and ornament," he says. "Art has a collectable value and a quality above ornamentation. It's as much about the artist's life as the piece itself.

"I would encourage any gardener thinking about sculpture to contact gallery curators and their artists," he says. "For me, the joy of commissioning sculpture lies in engaging with an artist and, together, creating a dialogue with the space. I believe it's important to involve the artist as an integral part of the scheme - at the outset when redesigning a private garden - because sculpture is not just a focal point but part of the whole arrangement." Giubbilei commissioned British sculptor Peter Randall-Page to create three pieces on the Laurent-Perrier garden's theme of nature and human intervention. "He's retaining the natural, untouched shapes of three random-sized boulders and making a surface pattern of continuous lines to play with light and create a feeling of harmony that turns chaos into order," says Giubbilei.

Big decisions

Having sufficient space is often a big consideration. Kate Dundas of Gillespies, a Leeds-based landscape architectural practice which last year won silver for Welcome to Yorkshire's Rhubarb Crumble & Custard garden (and the RHS People's Choice award), is this year creating an Artisan Garden for the same sponsor. She says: "You can commission work that isn't too expensive - or make your own - but you do need space to show it. Industrial materials like rusty-looking Cor-Ten steel and cast concrete have become popular. You can get some amazing finishes by casting in some glass or granite dust to give it sparkle and even add fibre optics." The Gillespies team is creating the Art of Yorkshire garden to celebrate the north-country landscape through the eyes of Yorkshire artists. Barbara Hepworth's Ascending Form, on temporary loan from Alnwick Castle, will be the centrepiece.

At 2m tall and 40cm wide, it was chosen for its dimensions - "it has to work in a 5m by 4m plot" - and for other reasons too. "More importantly," says Dundas, "it conveys the spiritual aspect of the Yorkshire terrain.

"Hepworth once said: 'I, the sculptor, am the landscape' and I feel [the sculpture] brings something of Hepworth's spirit to Chelsea." Visual impact isn't the only appeal of sculpture - its tactile qualities can be just as alluring. This aspect is highlighted in a garden designed by Graham Bodle of Walkers Nurseries & Garden Centre for the Chelsea debut of Doncaster Deaf Trust. A figurative piece - called Touch - is being made by Bodle's aunt, sculptor Hilary Walker, in textured concrete with cast aluminium hands (similar pieces by Walker cost from £1,000 to £2,000). "One hand gives a signing signal and the other is held out as if for a handshake," says Bodle. "It's very tactile but also interacts with the planting and fits within its environment, as any sculpture should do."