November 2009

INSTALLATION STAGE
 

Two mosaic murals for the refurbishment of the Terrick Street underpass, part of Transport For London's major improvements for the A40 at White City, London.

Working on the theme "It's good to be me" Gary began the design process for this mosaic with a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London with the year 4 pupils of Bentworth Primary School at White City. Following the gallery talk and visit the children drew and painted self portraits.

The portraits pictured here are the result of combining the drawn and painted works together.

"When it came to the final design for the mosaics I wanted to place the children's portraits together at one end of the tunnel looking to the other end. A crucial design factor was the presence of the security mirrors in the centre of the walls, these really set the whole design. Thinking about the theme and the tunnel itself the idea of looking through a kaleidoscope seemed to work perfectly. For me the kaleidoscope represents the wonder of childhood, that amazement that we experienced as children holding the kaleidoscope up to the light. It also symbolises the coming together of disparate committees to form a beautiful whole".