Portland Square Memorial Project

The Portland Square Memorial sculpture is a memorial to 76 civilians who died in a bomb shelter during the second world war - the biggest loss of civilian life in one incident in Plymouth. The University of Plymouth decided to commission a piece of sculpture as a memorial.

Concept:
My idea behind the sculpture concerns our great desire to protect and preserve the next generation, particularly in times of war. So you see an adult lifting up a child and offering the child to the future. The University is also, of course, about the next generation.

However I did feel I wanted to make a statement about war. This I have done with the curved reflective stainless panel behind the sculpture. When we look at the sculpture we see a child being lifted up with all the hope for the future, but we also see a distorted image of the sculpture in the reflective panel, representing the distortion that war has on all ordinary life but particularly civilians and children.

Sculpture Specifications:
Estimated finished size: height 240 cm/10 ft, width: 130 cm/4 ft square.
Weight of 1st uncut stone - 6-7 tons
Weight of 2nd uncut stone - 5-6 tons
Estimate finished weight 8-10 tons
Reflective Panel over all height and width - 360 cm, approx 12 ft square.

Stainless steel reflective panel:
The sculpture is relected in the curved stainless steel panel. The complete sculpture can be seen complete but with a distorted reflection. This depicts the distortion of war on all life, civilian life in particular.

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