Sir Antony Gormley 'relies on the inspiration of Norfolk'

Sir Antony said Norfolk offered the "absolute antithesis of life in London"

Sculptor Sir Antony Gormley has said he has come to rely on his time in Norfolk for inspiration.

Sir Antony unveiled his latest artwork, a collection of 100 life-size cast iron figures in the grounds of Houghton Hall, near King's Lynn.

It focuses on creating an "experience" for visitors, rather than one piece of static artwork, he said.

"Over the last 14 years we have come to love and really rely on the inspiration of Norfolk," Sir Antony said.

"It's an incredible privilege for Vicken [his wife] and I to have this place which is the absolute antithesis of life in London, which is extremely busy, urban, very, very complex and, you could say, over-stimulating.

"To come here and feel the sky and hear the birds and feel the wind, to be part of an elemental engagement, it's been really important.

"Over the last 14 years we have come to love and really rely on the inspiration of Norfolk."

It took about four months to fully install the work at Houghton Hall

Installation of his newest exhibition at Houghton Hall, which goes on display later this month, took four months and included battling near constant rain.

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He said: "It took a while and I have to congratulate the team at Houghton, they've been such a pleasure to work with.

"It was the wettest February, ever.

"You can imagine, we had to dig 99 holes and every time we dug them they would be filled with water and the tracks of these tractors over these beautiful lawns. We couldn't have chosen a worse February.

"We started in October, so it's about four months of work, for a show that will be on for six months."

Sir Antony used his own body to mould the sculptures

Sir Antony said it was important to create a piece that was not a single object.

"The biggest challenge for me was not to simply decorate what was already here - in terms of these grand axes, the pleached limes, the planted oaks - but to do something that in a way cut through it and in a way made us feel our own experience of time and place could be changed," he said.

The artwork includes 99 figures with another inside Houghton Hall

"You don't have to see every one of these works. The work creates a kind of field, that you are part of and hopefully invites you to walk and discover and penetrate the widest possible area of this distribution of works. And your journey, your thoughts and feelings on that investigation is the subject of the work," he added.

The installation will be open to the public from 21 April until 31 October.