Never Forget

Artist: Christie Cassisa

Using materials of clay and earth from the surrounding area artists worked on a sculpture depicting a child sitting on a bomb site.  This emotive image represented war torn England, while the sculpture allowed its viewers to reflect upon today’s troubled world.

The project was inspired by ‘The Melting Mud Sculpture’, by Damian van der Velden – a piece erected in Trafalgar Square, London, to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. Van der Velden’s work was crafted from mud and sand and was continuously sprayed with water, which caused the gradual and continuous destruction of the structure.

Prior to the sculpting of the clay materials, white stones were collected from a local garden centre, and were inscribed by Centrepieces’ artists with the names of loved ones lost to war. These named and initialed stones formed the core of the sculpture, entombed within clay that would deteriorate under the force of inclement weather.

The clay was manipulated to resemble the bodies of two frail, frightened children, sitting atop the wreckage of a bomb site. The emotive sculpture was unveiled to the public at 11am, Saturday 11th November, Armistice Day 2017.