Matt Howard: Resident

In August 2024 Matt Howard took up residence at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The ensuing year has been punctuated by his visits; they marked time, drawing attention to its passing through the changing seasons. Staying in Archway Lodge, the original 18th-century entranceway to the Bretton Estate, he was able to immerse himself in the life of this place, often walking out at dawn and dusk, listening, noticing. At those times he shared the Park only with its non-human community of flora and fauna, watched over by trees that have stood here in witness to hundreds of years of life.

Created in response to Matt’s poems is a series of silver gelatin photographs by Wakefield-based artist Emily Ryalls. She too was resident here in April, exploring the site with her camera and her body, testing their boundaries. Emily’s sensitivity and eye for detail pair perfectly with the intricate worlds evoked within Matt’s words. 

"The poems are encounters with the many wonders of YSP, the sculpture of course, but also the landscape of the park itself and all its many constituent species from ancient trees, wildflowers, fish and birds.” Matt Howard.

- Introduction texts by Sarah Coulson, Senior Curator / Publications Lead, YSP.
- Paperback
- Stapled