This amazing project was handed to me in the summer of 2016. The commission brief was to create 2 walls of fabricated steel which resonated with the aesthetic feel of the area of Canary Wharf and its heritage links to its industrial past and connections with the Coffee Import trade, being an artist which works with coffee as one of my primary sources, this was ideal.
The rooms which I was required to make work for were the entrance lobby and the bar area on Level 1.
Both walls measured in the region of 9 meters in length each and had a height of roughly 3.5 meters. In total, just under half a tonne of steel had been used to create the project with coffee imported directly in through a good friend who owns Moka Ma a Coffee Company, a coffee importer who imports ethically sourced coffee from Africa.
The first part of the project was to provide some colour samples for the client, where they could identify the patters and the textures they wished to pursue within the project.
The project had a quick turnover as the hotel was on a deadline to open, the work was completed in 3 weeks and ready to install after a drying time of 1 week. Throughout the project, the client was sent images of the work in progress so I could gauge feedback from them and change the work where needed to their liking.
The install took a total of a week to complete, with several visits to the hotel after the install to touch the work up and meet with the design team to finalise approval.
The whole story behind my art is connected to the changing face of the landscape, everything from historical references to the whole issue surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing AKA “Fracking” and the chaos that will cause, c02 and the emissions scandals, how the coastline has changed during the last 1000 years, how forests disappear, how we used to trade globally and how that has shaped who we are as a nation. A narrative, but as a visual discussion.
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Photography by Chris King.
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