Sunniside Gardens Commission, Sunderland

Early in 2006 I was selected by art consultant David Goard, on behalf of Sunniside Partnership and Robinson Landscape Design Ltd, to tender for a regeneration project in Sunniside, Sunderland. When undertaking some preliminary research, my imagination was captured by five aspects of Sunderland's heritage; its geography as a city divided by a river; Sunniside as an orchard; a rich manufacturing heritage of stained and rolled plate glass; Sunderland's shipping industry; and the immediate vicinity of Sunniside gardens. In response to the brief, I proposed to create an iconic artwork referring to Sunderland's industrial heritage. I proposed to work with glass and steel, with the option to incorporate a water feature within the hard landscaping.