Glass Ladders. 2014

I was asked to make work for a dark pine wood at the top of a hill, where the wind whistles and it’s cold - and dark, even on a sunlit day.

These neglected trees were packed closely together, the lower branches dead and sticking out like rungs of a ladder (though too brittle to climb).

I made a ladder from the roots of trees fallen in recent gales - another ladder impossible to scale, and moreover one that should be to climb down into the depths, not to climb heights, metaphorically-speaking.

The contrast between the brilliance of the light beyond the wood, and the darkness of the wood itself made me think of glass. I wondered if it might shine even within relative darkness by reflecting whatever light it can find. I also wanted to make something that was impossible, and the idea of a glass ladder, too fragile to climb and maybe something one would find in an enchanted forest, seemed to be the right thing to do.