ARTISTS TALKING

In my experience this leads to the artwork being integrated to the extent that people do not question it independently of the building with greater satisfaction for me as well as for the end user.

Some of my previous projects include a surveillance mirror for a Victorian Grade 2 listed church; a collaboration with muf art/architecture to design steps by a canal in Leicester; and the Angell Town Estate Action in Brixton – a collaboration with MODE 1 Architects to be completed in June 2003. I use sky, people, landscapes and colour as inspiration; a reference to a wider concern for our environment and our place in the world.

Fields is sited at The Oakridge Community Centre Hall for All in Basingstoke. I was commissioned by Oakfern Housing Association to create a glass artwork for the new community centre – designed by is Bob Owston of HTA Architects – which is part of a large housing redevelopment scheme. The designs were screen printed onto thirty separate glass sheets and then made into double glazed units and installed into the existing structure. The commissioning process for the artwork involved consultation with the Oakfern team, architect, community and my supplier. Their support was crucial to overcoming any obstacles and as a team we negotiated our way through reluctant builders, glazing and technical issues to make the project a success.

I wanted to include the community in the process of creating the artwork so I developed a participatory photography project. I asked volunteers at a community meeting to take pictures around Oakridge of people relaxing in public spaces, landscapes, faces and buildings in the area. Some of the resulting pictures were incorporated into the design of the artwork. The design was inspired by a beautiful map from the 1500s illustrating the ownership of land at the time, a poignant reminder in respect of the redevelopment and re-mapping of the area for the twenty-first century.