Jill Randall

“A Sense of Place”-Sculpture in the Garden 2008. Harold Martin Botanic Garden, University of Leicester.

In 2008, Jill Randall was commissioned by the Richard Attenborough Centre to make new site-specific work for the annual “Sculpture in the Garden” Exhibition , held at the University of Leicester’s Botanic Garden.

Randall was particularly drawn to the botanic gardens of the medieval monasteries of Europe and Asia , which were used for reference and education, acting as a ‘living library’ to teach about the medicinal properties of plants and their effect on the human body. Many common garden plants are highly toxic, and have the potential to kill or cure dependent on the dosage.Randall’s work for this commission, “An Alternative Herbal”consists of 6 individual sculptures based on drawings of internal bodily organs  and located adjacent to significant plants . It attempts to reconnect plants and shrubs with the physical body, and to encourage the visitor to experience the visual and the visceral, whilst exploring a trail navigating the garden in a new way.

Publication produced.”A Sense of Place” 21 June-14 September 2008. ISBN: 978-0-901507-04-4

Photography: David Bennett.