Lise Bech in her studio in Fife | Photography © Lydia Smith
Lise Bech
Basketmaker & Willow Grower
Lise Bech works exclusively with organically grown Scottish willow, imbuing each sculptural form she creates with traceability, rootedness and a sense of place. She sees her work as a combination of elemental forces; using wood – water and light – which is then shaped with simple metal tools. Her practice embodies the transformative power of craft, rooted in ancestral knowledge and a deep connection to the land.
Bech’s work is large and suggests human forms. When working on this scale the making-process is a whole-body experience. For the artist, their bodily forms provoke questions, “how do we present ourselves to the world?”, “are we enclosed or open?” or “do we feel safe to share our outer or inner selves?”
Her pieces are the result of long-gathered muscle and mind memory gained from 40 years of collaboration and play with willow. Her sculptural forms, created through decades of skill and dedication, resonate with the exhibition’s celebration of resilience, creative mastery, and the enduring relationship between maker, material and place.
Biography
Having been a willow grower and basket-maker for 40 years, Lise Bech thrives on the different tasks that the change of seasons brings. She cares deeply for the wellbeing of the planet, seeing her basketmaking as a co-operative process with collaboration and community as constant touchstones. Bech approaches her weaving sessions as a conversation on a playdate, where the give-and-take between maker and material transforms a bundle of sticks into a tactile image of mutuality. Working exclusively with Scottish willow, she creates lively, appealing sculptural forms which echo both an inner and outer landscape.
Bech is self-taught but has had many British and international teachers over the years. In 2004 she received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to develop a contemporary range of sensual asymmetric organic forms – marrying technical skill and a higher level of emotional expression – which have become iconic of her work nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Response, The Gallery at The Stables, Falkland (2023); Folk at Heart, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (2023); The Walled Garden, Amisfield Walled Garden, Haddington (2022); Two Hemispheres, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh (2022).