Unveiling of Circadian, Marble Arch Place, London

This week was the unveiling of Circadian, a sculpture and project I have been working on for approaching 8 years, with Almacantar. A wonderful event was hosted by Almacantar at Marble Arch Place and we were lucky enough to have some glorious sunshine for the afternoon.

"The location of Marble Arch Place, one of the key fulcrums to the great city of London, is one that as an artist or designer you could not imagine you would ever have the opportunity to undertake a?commission of this magnitude, sitting at the gateway to London's Westend. I have some very fond memories of this location and area being one of the first areas of London I can recall as a child, that has left a lasting impression on me since a child, when coming to visit London for days out or to either visit the Westend or Hyde Park, there was a sense of arrival and buzz that is still so vivid in my mind"

"Almacantar, nearly a decade ago took a leap of faith in myself, to what at the time was the beginnings of my career and practice, after not long graduating from the Royal College of Art, on the adjacent side of Marble Arch Place across the stunning Hyde Park. The magnitude of this project and opportunity is one that will never leave me and in having this patronage as a young Artist, this opportunity with great backing and support has propelled my career forward.?"

"It is very much an over used term, however Marble Arch Place has always felt the true gateway into London, not just the Westend, which to my mind offers up that most unique experience of being able to stroll the surrounding historic streets of the Westend, that is conversely juxtaposed with the beautiful offerings of Hyde Park, that stitches together the four sides of London, that creates a space of transition and tranquillity".?

"10 years ago whilst studying at the Royal College of Art, I was fortunate to have a work bench that I would work form for two years that was situated at the Kensington campus that offered up panoramic views of the park and its treetops with the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall in the foreground. It always felt quite surreal to spend the day sitting in this position and I felt privileged to take this in while working away, I would always be mesmerised by the changing years season and atmosphere of the park.

In some sense on a subconscious level, the park has left a lasting impression on me from this time and when Almacantar approached me to look at possible?opportunities as to how some form of artistic installation could be integrated into the tapestry of Marble Arch Place, I knew it felt fitting to somehow capture and distil this essence of the glorious park and create some form of visual dialogue between the park and Marble Arch Place, given my work and practice are heavily motivated by site context and history, there was a natural connection that I felt needed to be explored."

?"Circadian has been the working title of the commission over these last 8 years, through various explorations of form, scale and location that has looked to respond to the unique site.?Circadian derived from the study of circadian rhythms that is a biological process that happens in all living cells on this planet, from the regulation of sleep patterns in humans and regulates the natural world."

“My training and background were in that of Jewellery and Silversmithing and with an upbringing being surrounded by the building industry. There has always been this strange tension of enjoying the intricacies and details working at a macro scale with precious metals and my work having a strong graphical aesthetic, however with a fondness for the scale of architecture and the making process of construction.??Working with the material of metal has particularly always been a great fascination, as to how one can push the material to its extreme, via craft, machines and digital processes.”

"Thank you to those that attended, after the challenging year and a half we have all faced, it’s wonderful and refreshing to see so many faces come together in person to celebrate this milestone with me ."

"Circadian could not have come to fruition without the support of a patron like Almacantar and the many stakeholders that have been supportive in driving for this, which I am immensely grateful for"

"It takes a certain collection of like-minded individuals that are prepared to come on that journey with you, that are prepared?to push the envelope of what is technically and physically achievable.?

A thank you to Littlehampton Welding that have fabricated and brought Circadian to fruition with me, which as an object, has been technically challenging to make and install and not always the most straight forward to quantify. Following on, are Format Engineers , who have assisted me on pushing the technical limitations of engineering with clever workings.?

There has been an outstanding delivery team who have supported me for Marble Arch Place, that have been vital for the undertaking of Circadian, in that of the Almacantar team, the many different specialist consultants, engineers and contractors, that of The Portman Estates, for their continued support in me and the commission, in conjunction with Westminster City Council for?championing public art and offering their support through the planning process.”