Public sculpture commission:
Cynon Valley Hospital, South Wales
Client: Cwm Taf Health Board + HLM Architects
Art consultants: Celfwaith
HLM Architects& Trevor Burrows Photography
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About
the sculpture
The Cynon Valley Hospital was built to replace two old hospitals at neighbouring villages Mountain Ash and Aberdare.
The brief was to reference the history and people of this South Wales valley along with the original hospital buildings and the activities carried out by hospital staff.
The sculpture consists of 3 plaster reliefs with motifs indented to the surface. The imagery is made by direct casting from real life objects and materials.
The motifs I created relate to the following:
- architecture of the valley, terraced houses, chapels, pubs
- bridges on the river Cynon
- music + jazz bands of which there was a strong tradition in the valley - referenced by musical instruments and details from the band costumes
- mining - symbolized by pit ponies & breathing apparatus (the pits closed in the 1980s)
- interior architectural details from the old hospitals
- the cenotaphs in both villages
- ledgers in the old hospitals which recorded donations from patrons and miners towards the running of the hospitals before the National Health Service was established
- medical equipment, including various types of scissors, saws & pliers used in the plaster cast department
I cast directly from real objects and when necessary enlarged these initial casts with a special mould-making technology which allows exactly proportioned expansion of the original object.
I also supplied silhouette versions of some motifs for the etched glass panels on the staircase and balcony
The Cynon Valley Hospital was built to replace two old hospitals at neighbouring villages Mountain Ash and Aberdare.
The brief was to reference the history and people of this South Wales valley along with the original hospital buildings and the activities carried out by hospital staff.
The sculpture consists of 3 plaster reliefs with motifs indented to the surface. The imagery is made by direct casting from real life objects and materials.
The motifs I created relate to the following:
- architecture of the valley, terraced houses, chapels, pubs
- bridges on the river Cynon
- music + jazz bands of which there was a strong tradition in the valley - referenced by musical instruments and details from the band costumes
- mining - symbolized by pit ponies & breathing apparatus (the pits closed in the 1980s)
- interior architectural details from the old hospitals
- the cenotaphs in both villages
- ledgers in the old hospitals which recorded donations from patrons and miners towards the running of the hospitals before the National Health Service was established
- medical equipment, including various types of scissors, saws & pliers used in the plaster cast department
I cast directly from real objects and when necessary enlarged these initial casts with a special mould-making technology which allows exactly proportioned expansion of the original object.
I also supplied silhouette versions of some motifs for the etched glass panels on the staircase and balcony
The
setting
The hospital
Aberdare
See
my other public sculpture at St Davids Shopping
Centre, Cardiff
