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Liz Middleton

Artist
Liz Middleton
Artwork Title
Yerth Threddle
Location
Ebbsfleet Green, Ebbsfleet Garden City, Kent
Commissioner
Redrow
Roles & Responsibilities
Fabrication & Installation
Polished stainless steel sculpture in metal workshop

Pangaea was commissioned by artist Liz Middleton to fabricate and install her new stainless steel public sculpture for Ebbsfleet Green. Yerth Threddle is a series of five mirror-polished stainless stainless steel ‘drawings through space’ threaded through five Tibetan Cherry trees (Prunus Serrula) which were carefully chosen by the artist. The sculpture sits within an open public space, approachable from all sides and viewable from both close-up and far away.

The genesis of the work was rooted in extensive research within the community and into local history, picking up folklore, traditions, and even Victorian initiatives to create pleasure gardens in the local area. Extensive conversations with local people brought out a widespread desire to connect with both nature and neighbours, as families sought to forge new relationships, seek out green space, and feel at home.

The artist designed the durable steel elements of the work in response to detailed 3D scans of the trees, before having them fabricated by Pangaea’s skilled craftspeople. Generated by the bending of aluminium at 1:20 scale, Middleton selected shapes that recall human gestures such as bowing or leaping. The sculpted parts of the installation are woven around and through the trunks; bouncing, skipping, and twisting. The metal line appears to rise from the ground before periodically returning to it again, a sculptural stitch in the landscape threading its way through the elements: an earth thread, weaving together people, place, and nature.

Working from the artist’s physical maquettes and CAD drawings, the fabrication design team worked closely with the artist to rationalise the number of curves required to create each unique form, sensitive to both budgetary considerations and to retain a truthfulness to the artists intention and the fluid, organic nature of the forms.

“Pangaea were absolutely brilliant, so knowledgeable and professional from start to finish. Lucy was the perfect fabrication partner. She really understood what was essential conceptually and delivered despite the technical challenges. I would love the opportunity to collaborate again!” – Liz Middleton, Artist

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