Entering leafy Turrill Sculpture Garden, one is struck by the stark nature of this exhibition – a series of bright white blocks planted in the earth and each perforated with a gaping hole.

Soon one realises the fixed aperture alters with the viewpoint, height and perspective of the onlooker in Jack Eden’s Aperture. By happy coincidence his name echoes his idea of planting in the Garden of Eden. Jack Eden spent a year at Plymouth School of Art and completed his BA in Fine Art at Oxford Brookes, focusing on sculpture. Interested in the relationship between maths and art, he sought inspiration and guidance from his grandfather, a nuclear engineer. For this exhibition he first made drawings of mathematical constructs for his concrete geometric shapes. He used a Pentax SLR to get his preferred size of 6x4 inches for apertures by converting metric to imperial. An artist employs a viewfinder to frame the image captured in paint, while Eden uses fixed apertures to reveal an ever-changing moment in nature. Made specifically for this garden, the sculptures stand out against deep greens. One is drawn through windows into and beyond this small, rich garden, a hidden oasis. Eden sees his work as a democratic collaboration between artist and viewer. Were one to buy one of his intriguing sculptures one’s garden would be enlarged and enhanced by these innovative works of art.

 

Turrill Sculpture Garden, by Summertown Library
Until April 27 – free
Visit turrillsculpture garden.org.uk