- Venue
- St Luke's (The Bombed Out Church)
- Starts
- Sunday, September 16, 2012
- Ends
- Friday, November 30, 2012
- Address
- Top of Bold Street Liverpool
- Location
- North West England
Carolyn Shepherd’s much-loved piece invites viewers to contemplate the cycle of destruction, death, rebirth and growth into new life. It forms a dramatic circular ‘henge’ of charred wood, 10’ across and 6’ high made from salvaged timber that has been burnt as individual pieces in a fire pit in a meditative, ritualistic cleansing process to produce a charred surface layer. The pieces are fixed together to become an evocative sculptural circle with pointed spires, striking shapes and well defined negative spaces. By the elemental power of fire, the wood has been transformed and preserved into a beautiful textured surface as it splits and burns in the extreme heat. “I make sculptures and installations because I am trying to find a visual language to express my idea of ‘continuity’ – about rebirth, renewal, regeneration and the desire to keep going, recover and persevere. The burnt wood looks like its been destroyed, but its preserved when its burnt. To me, there is a consistent theme behind all my work, but what is more important to me is for people to tell me what it means to them, because this continues the network of meaning. The burnt roof timbers at the Church inspired this work”.
