Artist Hilary Jack at the Tatton Park Biennial 2012

With support from Castlefield Gallery, artist Hilary Jack has developed Empty Nest, a human-scale nest located in a one hundred year old Variegated Sycamore in Tatton’s Formal Gardens for Flights of Fancy, The Tatton Park Biennial 2012 curated by Danielle Arnaud and Jordan Kaplan.  

This work takes its inspiration from the life of the last Lord Egerton, who died without an heir and left the estate to the National Trust, and from ancient folklore, which suggests that crows desert their colonies at the death of a childless heir to a fortune, Empty Nest symbolises shelter, the home, the birth and incubation of new ideas and wishful thinking, while referencing nature, our fragile ecology and environment. Acting as a memorial to Lord Egerton’s empty home and his own aeronautical legacy, the work offers audiences the opportunity to view the world as many of Tatton Park’s current residents do: from their nests.

The Tatton Park Biennial continues from 12 May to 30 September 2012

www.tattonparkbiennial.org        www.emptynesttatton.com