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Autumn Lights: Artist Liz West casts new light through ancient 16th century hall

Manchester-based artist Liz West – featured previously – has created the first ever contemporary art installation at the National Trust’s 16th century Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire. Called Autumn Lights, it was commissioned by the Trust as part of its ‘Trust New Art’ programme in conjunction with Arts Council England.

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Long wooden corridor in 16th century Little Moreton Hall with latticed windows casting geometric light patterns and coloured reflective materials from Liz West's Autumn Lights installation on the floor

Light, as it streams through ancient glass windows, and the effect it can have on our sense of sight is the theme for the artwork, as Liz West explains: "Little Moreton Hall has over thirty thousand lead window panes containing Tudor and Victorian hand blown glass. This is subtly tinted by coloured impurities of copper, iron and magnesium.

"These soft and varied hues create historical ‘colourways’ which I have used to create a series of installations which visually alter how visitors will see the many different spaces in the Hall. Through the constantly changing natural and occasional sunlight, the reflective materials I’ve used will highlight elements of Little Moreton’s architecture which might ordinarily go unnoticed, or be overlooked."

If you want to enjoy Autumn Lights for yourself, it's available to see at Little Moreton Hall, near Congleton, Cheshire, Weds-Sun until 27 November 2016. For more information, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Liz West

Interior of 16th century timber-framed hall with ornate plasterwork ceiling, wooden panelling and red-framed doorway lit by sunlight streaming through leaded windows
Coloured glass blocks in shades of amber, pink, blue, green, cyan, yellow and red arranged on shelves behind a wooden-framed window with decorative lead panes
White-framed doors with coloured glass panels in blue, yellow and red creating a light installation inside a wood-panelled room with ornate leaded windows above
Liz West's Autumn Lights installation showing illuminated coloured panels with geometric patterns behind leaded windows, displayed in two rows across a dark wooden frame
Liz West's Autumn Lights installation featuring a folding screen with green and blue coloured panels and latticed windows, casting coloured light into Little Moreton Hall's interior space
Coloured acetate panels in green, yellow, blue, red and purple frame a Tudor window with lead panes and intricate wooden tracery, casting coloured shadows across the stonework at Little Moreton Hall
Half-timbered 16th century Little Moreton Hall with distinctive black and white patterned facade set on green lawn beneath clear sky, with visitors on the grass to the right
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