Kate Whiteford: Shadow of a Necklace (2001)
'Shadow of a Necklace' continued Kate Whiteford's investigation into the impressions left on the landscape by succeeding generations and cultures, and forms one of a series of important land works completed over the last 20 years. Whiteford referred to the prehistory of the island, and in particular to the discovery at the end of the last century of a jet necklace found within a Bronze Age burial site in the grounds at Mount Stuart. The necklace became the inspiration that defined the project and interpreted the strands binding past to present.
The monumental drawing, situated on the main lawn at the east elevation of Mount Stuart, was cut into the ground and filled with silver sand. In 2003, it was seeded with grass seed; the seeds grow a darker shade creating a shadow of the necklace on the lawn, which will change and fade over the years. The shadow is most effectively viewed from the first or second floor of Mount Stuart.
For the book accompanying this exhibition Yves Abrioux, Professor of English Literature at the University of Paris 8, wrote an essay which you can read here.