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Double Helix sculptures in Oak, London Plane and Utile
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Commissions Because of the quality and interest in the works of William Fairbank, he has been commissioned to produce a number of interesting sculptures. Examples are given below:
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For the Tree of Life Exhibition within A Picture of Health Chairman: Dr Geoffrey
Farrer-Brown
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The Heart of Yew
Dr Geoffrey Farrer-Brown is working with art and artists to communicate the essence
of ideas that he holds deep within
himself and have grown over a life
working with and seeing hearts of people who had died from smoking. I found myself working with someone who at essence saw the great beauty
of the heart and it was this fact that he wanted my work to communicate.
As a carpenter and joiner I have always found the multiple ways in which one
piece of wood can be joined to another most fascinating and to find new ways of
joining timber is a continuous challenge.
The heart muscular cells are lengthening and shortening, over and over, again
and again, beat after beat throughout our lives. I started by building my heart of yew by joining one ‘cell of yew’
with the next ‘cell of yew’. Then
came the third and forth and on as the heart started to grow before me. As in all growth the finished being is in fact unknown and off into the
future somewhere.
In carpentry most wood is joined one straight flat surface to another but in nature
this is very rare. To join two
pieces of inch thick yew, where the meeting surfaces are all curved is a challenge indeed. 108
separate pieces of yew make up the whole and this technical achievement
contributes to the attraction and fascination of the viewer.
The steel base was spun on a lathe and the vertical tube welded to it. The 900
fibre optic cables, each of which contains 80 hair thick strands of glass, pass up inside this which are set flush with the surface of the carved arteries and veins.
Each of the two light machines in the base include a glass disk which rotates
slowly between the light bulb and the polished ends of 450 fibre optic cables.
The flickering colours are produced by painting the disc with transparent
paint, creating an effect of movement
or flow within the still image.
At the root is the fact that if people can touch the sculpture then the
sculpture will touch them which is at the heart of the Tree of Life exhibition.
| Sculpture Commissioned by: Frances Turner
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Height: 1.7m |
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The Dove may be seen as a GIFT, a GIFT from every atom of the Universe. Contact William Fairbank for a half hour video presentation on the building of this sculpture. Back wood: European Ash Flaxinus excelsior Top hands: USA/Canada Madrona Arbutus menziesii Dove: European Lime Tilia spp Lower Hands: European Plane Platanus acerifolia |
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The Ribbon of Life sculptures were commissioned by New Malden Methodist Church. New Malden lies to the south west of Greater Lon#don, near Wimbledon, and may be reached by train from Waterloo Station. The sculptures hang in the coffee bar behind the main church and are on permanent display. The back ground timber is Cedar of Lebanon, the ribbon is made from English Ash and Brown Oak. The black crosses are made of 2000 year old Bog Oak from the Lincolnshire fens. The veneers come from around the world. |
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Sculpture
Commissioned by The Complimentary Medicine Centre, Eye, Suffolk, UK |
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Bridgham Village Sign The name of this village is over 900 years old and came about because this was the only bridge over the Thet river within a ten mile stretch. The village lies in Thetford Forest and the sign is made from English oak. The inspiration as to how the water is carved came from Japanese woodblock prints. |
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1999
Hampstead
Norreys, Berkshire, UK
Three-toed Sloth, Toucan, Standing Pangalin, Sleeping Pangalin, Flying Fox, Crocodile head, Limur and Boa Constrictor.
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TOP
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2000
Kings
College, Cambridge, UK Processional Cross design |
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