Lilah Fowler
Lantern Forest, 2019
Vinyl
Main Corridor, Whipps Cross Hospital
As the first Artist-in-Residence at Whipps Cross Hospital, Lilah Fowler collaborated with Vital Arts and Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019, to create an innovative installation along the main public corridor of the hospital.
Fowler’s commission considers the legacy of the Borough and took inspiration from the ‘magic lantern’ slides she discovered in the Epping Forest and Vestry Museum archives. Entitled ‘Lantern Forest’, the artwork includes drawn and photographic images of flora and fauna found locally. Working on glazed sections of the corridor, the artist has used the transparency of the square window panes to recreate a sense of the 19th century tradition of images on glass used in early photography. The work encourages viewers to look up and out through the windows, making a possible connection with the restorative forest that lays on the edge of the hospital’s premises.
Lilah Fowler is an artist local to Whipps Cross Hospital and this is her first commission in a healthcare setting. Her work considers the coexistence of digital and physical landscapes, taking inspiration from everyday situations – architecture, narratives and histories often collaborating with professionals from other disciplines, such as quantum physicists, geochemists and computer programmers.
This project was funded by Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019
Photography by Ollie Harrop
