Migrations

‘Migrations’, Cambridge, 2023 – 2025.

Permanent Public Artworks for Meadows Community Centre and recreation grounds, and Buchan Street new housing. Situated in Arbury & Kings Hedges areas of North Cambridge.
The project was commissioned and curated by Resonance Cambridge and Cambridge Investment Partnership.

The artwork for this commission emerged from an extensive research period delving into mycology and tracing the origins of plants, working within the city’s academic and scientific community, as well as among the daily users of the site.

The project reflects on the diverse ecological landscapes of ornamental and wild-flower plants found at the Meadows. It draws parallels between these botanical elements and communities of people, exploring themes of displacement, adaptation to new environments, and finding a sense of belonging.

Reflecting on the historical loss of original plant names during colonial times, where new names were imposed and original ones forgotten, the project was a process of grounding a sense of belonging and connection to the land and its residents through the non-human environment. Within opportunities for meaningful encounters with plants and their origins, the garden can be thought of as archive to be distilled and read.

Exterior façade artwork: Steel, vitreous enamel.

In collaboration with Plant Scientist Jen McGaley from Cambridge University, the project produced microscopy slides depicting mycorrhizal fungi living in plant roots from the Meadows site. These blue cellular images, along with drawings of the Meadows’ non-native plant species, are incorporated into the artwork. The project collaborated with the Cambridge Botanical Gardens to identify plant origins and source samples for drawing, featured alongside artist and poet Alec Finlay’s poems, crafted in response to each plant’s unique history and origin.

The artworks delve into the concept of community representation, using mycelial underground networks as a metaphor for above-ground communities where plants exist in a shared economy and support each other's growth.
Outside, the exterior of the community centre features vitreous enamel, steel sculpture reliefs inspired by wax cap fungi. These fungi, known for their rarity and vibrant colours, are found in meadows, primarily in wet climates. Initiatives are underway to train field mycologists in DNA barcoding for fungi conservation. The arrangement of the enamel shapes emulates data visualizations of fungi DNA sequencing and spores drifting up and away.

Interior glass artwork: Vinyl.