How internationally renowned artist Lakwena Maciver’s exhibition was inspired by the ha-has at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

“I then went for a visit to the Sculpture Park this April – I had never been before and it was really inspiring and beautiful,” says the young London-based artist who is internationally known for her joyful and gently subversive work. I normally work in a completely different context and very much in an urban environment, so I found it quite moving. It had a big impact on me.” She says that her initial thoughts about how she might respond and develop the show were in line with themes that recur in her work – such as power, privilege, ownership, access and control. “I didn’t have any set ideas but a couple of the questions I was asking were ‘who does this land belong to? And how did it come to be this public art space?’. Sarah explained to me that it had been this kind of patchwork acquisition by the public and I found that really interesting.”

The landscape and the atmosphere of the Sculpture Park provided much inspiration for Maciver, as it has for many artists. “I was particularly struck by the fact that there were sheep wandering around the artworks. It felt very free – like a paradise,” she says. “Then I came back to London with all the leaflets I had picked up as I walked around – and I looked at the map and realised there were ha-has.”

The ha-has, or concealed walled ditches, were created on the Bretton estate in the 18th century in order to prevent livestock from straying into the gardens. At around the same time that the ha-has were being constructed, the Enclosure Acts were changing the way in which land was configured in England, with the removal of ‘commoners’ access and placing it in private ownership – with boundaries. All this prompted Maciver to consider how these questions around access, borders, privilege and public space related to aspects of modern society, in particular the divisive nature of much of our contemporary public discourse.

“The ha-ha felt like a very apt metaphor for something that has been concerning me recently,” she says. “There is a manipulative, authoritarian kind of energy – and I’m trying to point that out. I’m saying ‘look there is a boundary here and the line has been drawn by people who have power.’ The polarisation of politics is something I have been thinking about for quite a while – I did a project on it in Hull around five years ago not long after the Brexit vote – and I think we are even more polarised now. It feels like you can’t respectfully disagree with someone anymore.”

The exhibition features text works with phrases such as ‘re-educate the world’, ‘free to agree’ and ‘take notes’ as well as a bank of vivid panels repeatedly proclaiming the word ‘Ha-ha’, making an unambiguous reference to laughter. “A lot of my work is based on words,” says Maciver. “My paintings are soulful, heartfelt and meaningful and the words I choose are important. Here I am deliberately painting phrases that I don’t believe, that are very didactic and authoritarian. I am critiquing that tendency, poking fun at it and deconstructing it. I also wanted to find a way to explore the idea of ha-ha and laughter and to subtly tackle that, which was fairly complicated. Laughter is approachable and you can connect with it but it can also be sinister.”

Maciver’s use of bright, bold colours has been a striking feature of much of her work throughout her career and is evident in the artworks on display in the exhibition but she says she feels she has used colour in a slightly different way this time. “Normally when I am using colour it’s usually something hopeful and joyful. In this case it’s all a bit of an experiment and the way that the work is hung, it is slightly distorted,” she says. “Colour isn’t always necessarily a sign that something is positive. I’ve always been really interested in 20th century propaganda – the use of bright colours to get across a message was quite blatant. The colour in this case might be slightly jilting; it’s ironic. And I haven’t done that before.” She says that she has used the colour in a looser, more ‘chaotic’ way which she feels is appropriate. “I think that, to be honest, things are quite chaotic and confusing at the moment. Unlike the 1960s civil rights movement, for example, where there was an obvious right or wrong, things are not as clear-cut today.”

Maciver hopes that the exhibition will serve as a provocation and encourage people to employ some critical thinking to the current polarised political climate. “I want people to question things,” she says. “At the moment we are being told not to ask questions or only to ask particular questions – and that’s not healthy.” As with much of her previous work, Maciver is ultimately aiming to present a message of hopeful possibility. “I would like people to think about who actually has the power and who is controlling us,” she says. “But I would also like them to be open to discussion, to be willing to talk, and listen to, somebody who has a different opinion or perspective. I think that is a possible way forward.”

Lakwena Maciver: A green and pleasant land (HA-HA) is at the Weston Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park until March 19, 2023. Booking essential via ysp.org.uk