Mosaic artist Alec Rice and metalworker Dan Peppiatt have been chosen to transform Camborne railway station with two landmark installations showcasing the town.
The GWR Customer & Community Fund awarded BID Camborne funding to create the artworks by February next year. Both are being developed with community input.
“We decided to split the budget and appoint two of the candidates, as the panel felt their different specialisms and creative concepts would give a good spread of different creative features at the station and maximise the value for money from this funding pot,” said BID Camborne manager Anna Pascoe.
“They have both hit the ground running as the project timelines are tight. The installations will feature different aspects of Camborne’s history and heritage – including lesser-known stories about Balmaidens, Cousin Jacks and Cousin Jennies.”
Dan Peppiatt specialises in upcycled materials and impressed the panel with his concept for a metal installation representing a phoenix rising from the ashes. That idea has now been developed into telling the backstory of Camborne’s industrial history through a creature hatching from a giant egg.
“This piece of art, a sculpture in fact, needs to tell a story - if it has no story, then it is just a random thing to look at and to be confused by,” explains Dan. “We want this art to be owned by the town, for them to have invested their own energy and creativity into it too, to have built the story themselves.
“Like all good stories, this story - and the sculpture itself - begins with an egg. Not just any egg, this isn't your standard chicken or the egg story - this is a special egg, a mysterious egg and nobody knows what is even inside that egg yet.
“We want to discover more about that egg – where was it found, what’s inside and how it tells us something about Camborne’s remarkable history. Poems, pictures, stories, artefacts. All contributions to the sculpture and its evolving tale are welcome.”
Alec Rice has recently been the artistic lead on an extraordinary community mosaic in the entrance way of Camborne’s Create Contemporary Crafts Hub. Now he is focused on a similarly collaborative artwork for Camborne station.
“I am delighted to have been commissioned and will be working in conjunction with the Create Contemporary Craft Hub to ensure everyone who wants to can be involved in the design and making process,” said Alec. “We’ve just held our first workshop which was very well attended, and another session is planned for January.”
To contribute to Dan Peppiatt’s sculpture, email camborneegg@gmail.com. For updates and the next mosaic workshop date, follow @cambornetown on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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