Visitors to be immersed in a joyful display of colour at YSP this winter

Our Colour Reflection is an immersive artwork by artist Liz West that combines vibrant colours and radiant light, creating a captivating sensory experience for YSP’s visitors to enjoy. Launching during Wakefield’s Our Year Light Up festival (15-17 November 2024), the much-loved 18th-century Chapel will be filled with endorphin-boosting light during the darker months.

The artwork comprises hundreds of mirrored discs in 15 vivid colours that will carpet the Chapel’s main space. Set at different heights, they capture and emit natural and artificial light, reflecting architectural details that might otherwise go unnoticed, drenching the interior with colour. Dynamic and constantly changing through each day, the reflections will respond to the weather and light quality outside.

A pathway leads through the artwork, inviting visitors to become immersed in its radiating colour. Moving through the work adds a subtle element of performance and participation, and a heightened sensory awareness that brings a feeling of warmth and wellbeing.

Liz West said: “Yorkshire Sculpture Park has always been a part of my life in many different ways. Exhibiting at the Park feels like a pivotal moment and like I have come full circle. Living locally, I was taken to YSP as a child back in the 80s and 90s - I have seen the Park evolve over the decades and new spaces open, I worked in the shops and as a gallery invigilator during my holidays from art school in the 2000s and have brought my own family and friends to visit as an adult. I am beyond delighted to be exhibiting my work Our Colour Reflection in the Chapel this winter. I look forward to seeing visitors reactions to the coloured reflections and changing light in the space.”

Conveniently located between Leeds and Sheffield (M1 Junction 38), visitors can enjoy the breathtaking Yorkshire landscape and experience art by some well-known names including Damien Hirst and Bharti Kher. With a whole host of family activities, dining events and adult workshops taking place in the run-up to Christmas, there’s all the more reason to return again and again over the festive period.

Locally born West, who went to school in Wakefield, has a creative practice that draws on colour theory, the way we perceive and understand light, and how it affects us psychologically. She has drawn inspiration from artists working with these concepts and materials, such as Dan Flavin and Olafur Eliasson, as well as James Turrell, whose Deer Shelter Skyspace at YSP she has visited over many years.

Our Colour Reflection is supported by a Culture Grant from Wakefield Council and Our Year, a year-long project of creative activities across the Wakefield District. The artwork was originally commissioned by 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, North Lincolnshire in 2016 with support from Arts Council England.

For opening times and the full Wild Yuletide programme visit ysp.org.uk/wild-yuletide

Standard entry to YSP is £9.50 with discounted tickets available.

18s and under admission is free, and parking is always free.