This project will deliver a number of sculptural screens and seating arrangements in the patient-only area of the medical day garden by Jacqueline Poncelet.
The commission aims to:
- Encourage peace and contemplation in the medical day garden to create an environment which supports wellbeing by making best use of the recognised therapeutic benefits of nature
- Appeal to the senses
- Calm, reassure and enable quiet contemplation and reflection
- Draw the eye by providing focal points
- Encompass a certain level of detail or hidden layers which could lead to repeat visits helping to distract and transport people from their current situation
- Have a high level of finish which promotes close-up viewing
‘Gingko’ is a sequence of five stainless steel, vertical, free-standing screens. They are sited between carefully chosen seating to create beautiful spaces in which patients and staff may sit, engage with nature, be private or take a breath of fresh air. The screens depict a pattern of gingko leaves - known for its medicinal properties – which has a beautiful, butterfly-like shape. The screens will cast shadows making patches of dappled light and whether day and night, the softly polished surfaces will reflect ambient colour, looking different as light moves over them.
The artist, Jacqueline Poncelet, consulted with staff from the renal and haematology departments about what they wanted to see in a garden space as she developed her designs.
Sheet stainless steel will be cut to size and perforated with the gingko pattern using laser-cutting. The surface will then be brushed and hand-finished with a soft burnish. The finished sheets will be inserted into stainless steel tubing and welded in place. The firm Twin Engineering Ltd from Milton Keynes will undertake the production of the screens, with Jacqui overseeing the pieces once the laser-cutting is complete.
The installation will involve manual handling of the screens into position within the garden, fixing them into the foundations, using pre-set bolt fixings. The seating will be installed after the screens are in position.
About the Artist – Jacqueline Poncelet
Born in Liege, Belgium, Jacqueline Poncelet has a background in ceramics, having studied at Wolverhampton College of Art and the Royal College of Art from 1966 until 1972. She is well-known for her early work in bone china, and for her more sculptural works in ceramics after 1980. From the mid-1980s she extended her practice to include painting, sculpture, installation and public art commissions. Poncelet lives and works in London and the South Wales Valleys.
