An Artsweek collaborative project between sculpture artist Pam Foley, landscape horticulturalist Alaistair Yeomans, and the owner of a local hotel had Oxford's new Lord Mayor, Bob Price, as one its first visitors on Saturday.

'The Evolving Garden', is being staged at the Galaxie Hotel in Summertown Road, Oxford, with the encouragement of its owner, Gwyn Harris-Jones, who has provided them with the use of the garden for a year.

Several areas have been created to illustrate the effects that can be achieved by using combinations of sculptures with plants.

Ms Foley, who came to Oxford from San Francisco six years ago, lives in Jericho, where she used to be the local area co-ordinator for the Artsweek festival.

She has produced 10 abstract figures which are displayed in their own micro-environments around the garden, with plants being used to convey particular moods.

The seasonal effects of the changing garden landscape have also been incorporated to affect the way the onlooker views and appreciates the sculptures, which bear such names as Glamour Queen, Bird Woman, Protection and Uni Psyche.

Ms Foley and Mr Yeomans, who is from Burford, and currently manages a garden centre in Bampton, met two years ago when he saw some of her sculptures at an Artweeks Open Studios exhibition, and believed they would exhibit well outside.

Ms Foley said: "This collaborative project attempts to further explore this postmodern approach by creating micro-environments or settings, using only horticultural variables to enhance the figurative sculptures.

"One of the principal aims of the exhibition is to create enjoyable relationships and interactions between the sculptures and the plants."