Serena de la Hey (born 1967) is a Kenyan-born British sculptor who has travelled widely but lived in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

since the early 1990s. She is best known for her 40-foot high

Willow Man ''Willow Man'' is a large outdoor sculpture by Serena de la Hey. It is in a field to the west of the M5 motorway, near Bridgwater in Somerset, South West England, near to the Bristol to Exeter railway line and south of junction 23 of the motor ...

near Bridgwater which she completed in the autumn of 2001.

Biography

Born in 1967 in Eldoret, Kenya, de la Hey spent her early childhood on farms in Australia. After graduating from Falmouth Art College, she settled in Somerset where she embarked on early sculpting work using willow from the

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...

. De la Hey first used willow for sculpting human forms in 1992 when she created running wicker figures in the Nevada Desert. Since the early 1990s, she has created wicker figures of people and animals in her studio in Stoke Gregory near

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

. She considers willow to be "fluid, a quick way of getting into an idea". She has produced a variety of figures for private clients, mostly for decorating homes or gardens. In 1999, in collaboration with Fernando Martin, she created a figure for the Glastonbury Festival which was burnt as part of a pyrotechnic display on the last night. In 2000, South West Arts commissioned her to create Willow Man, a 40-foot high wicker sculpture close to the

M5 Motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

near Bridgwater. It took her four weeks to complete the figure, using local willow supported by a metal structure. It was completed in September 2000. In May 2001, vandals burnt the sculpture, leaving only the metal frame. Thanks to a campaign to have the figure restored, in October 2001, de la Hey completed her second version, this time interweaving steel wire with the willow. In addition, the figure was protected by an acre of weedbed. Although originally designed to last just three years, the Willow Man has been repaired several times over the years by de la Hey and still stands intact. Repairs are however costly and de la Hey is now wondering whether her sculpture should be redesigned to save on maintenance costs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hey, Serena de la 1967 births Living people Kenyan artists Kenyan women artists British sculptors British women sculptors Alumni of Falmouth University People from Uasin Gishu County 21st-century British women artists