Brighton’s Arty: Alison Krog

Where the buffalo roam

Ho flippin’ ho. Such are the incongruities of magazine publishing scheduling, the Dane and I spent the hottest days of the year so far shooting images for a Christmas magazine. Sweltering in front of a roaring fire. Maintaining energy levels with stale stollen and gingerbread. Watching the faces of child models crumble as they realise the beautifully wrapped presents are fake, the stockings are stuffed with bubblewrap, and no they can’t take the toys home.
But conjuring up the spirit of Christmas in June is nothing compared with the feat of naturalistic planting that has resulted in the sensational Sussex Prairie Garden at Morlands Farm near Henfield. So we were excited to hear from one of the garden’s artists in residence, Tom Barker about a new exhibition ‘Prairie Spirits’, inspired by the garden and examining human frailty and the cycle of life.

Tom studied at Goldsmiths, but chose an alternative lifestyle that eventually led to working in television and theatre. Now he’s returned to explore the world through fine art, and his mixed media environmental installation uses found objects and photography to explore and challenge perceptions of life from the perspective of a child, dreaming of his home being taken over by the Prairies as he sleeps. While surreal and haunting, it is also a beautiful and moving study of our place in this world.
The show also features Tom’s mother’s and sister’s photographic based work. Now in her ninetieth year, Jill Staples is a photographer who experiments with alternative processes and presentations. Her ethereal and fleeting images encourage a reflective contemplation. Tom’s sister Alice graduated from Chelsea Art College and works as an art psychotherapist. Her work is informed by Buddhism, her images are pared down to the essence of experiencing natural forms.
Sussex Prairie has been described as ‘one of the most exciting British Gardens to open to the public in recent years’ by The Sunday Telegraph. So a double delight awaits. ‘Prairie Spirits’ runs until 11th October.
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