BESPOKE PROJECTS


© Susanna Heron 2019 DRAWN TO LIFE


Stone supplier stoneCIRCLE was called upon to supply the material for a unique artwork for the new library building at the University of Oxford.


In 2014, St John’s College Oxford appointed artist Susanna Heron to prepare a work of art for a new library and study centre at the college with Wright & Wright Architects. She turned to stoneCIRCLE, with whom she had previously worked, to help manufacture the piece.


The resulting artwork, called Stone Drawing, is a shallow- carved stone relief in Clipsham limestone. It is the same stone used in the old university buildings of Oxford, sourced from Stamford Stone- the sole suppliers of Clipsham stone. The work is situated on both external and internal faces of the west side of a new library and study centre for St John’s College Oxford and was completed in 2018. The original 17th century St John’s College library is housed within Canterbury Quadrangle, one of the greatest Baroque architectural quadrangles in Oxford, and the study centre adjoins it.


At the beginning of the commission, Susanna visited the quarry where the stone was sourced to give her a better understanding of the formation of the stone in the landscape, and a feeling for the way it was likely to behave during cutting and over time. Samples were made with the stonemasons at StoneCIRCLE to establish depth and finish.


Describing her working process, Susanna said: “In the studio, I think about the work by making drawings. These sketches are quite abstract, enabling me to get a pace and sense of scale so that, when I am drawing, it is in the knowledge of the actual size.


“These drawings are characterised by the need to make edges that will translate as cuts. In this way, they bear a resemblance to woodcuts and engravings and are often mistaken for prints. Once the drawing is made, the levels of relief are established by making a model. I gradually remove layers to visualise the relief, making edges to catch the light and form shadows, drawing out the composition from a jumble of lines, and removing some lines in the process. The way that the relief crosses the joints between stone blocks also affects the position of


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the line, so it is essential the layout of stone is established from the very beginning and remains unchanged.


“The levels can then be put on the drawing for stone cutting. The joint governs the position of the stone so that the line of relief follows through and can be pointed, which can only be achieved because the stone has been cut to such a precise tolerance.”


Stone Drawing originated as a drawing of abstract hand- painted lines, densely painted to form a rectangle. For the negative relief, the hand-drawn lines have been cut as edges of shapes at various depths, allowing for a flow across the surface.


The carved external wall is six metres high and 17.4 metres long and is comprised of three overlapping sections, which are stepped and separated by windows in the reveals. For the exterior relief, Susanna took into consideration the way that rain might be directed over the relief, with the idea that weathering would gradually adapt the line of the carving over a long period of time. This consideration created a drawing of water-flow and light. Further reflections are to be seen in the pool of water at its base, which will reflect the carving and throw light up the wall and into the interior.


The carved stone relief on the interior walls of the library is shallower and a mirror image to the exterior. It measures the same 17.4 metres in length but with a reduced height of 3.7 metres.


In total, there are 772 stones with an average dimension of 600mm x 450mm and depths ranging between 100mm and 160mm. stoneCIRCLE carved reliefs on to 290 stones with a total surface area of 160m². The carving varied between 20mm and 60mm in depth. The stone is laid to an exact 3mm joint so that the levels of relief follow through. Each level has been cut in steps from 60mm to just 1mm, the joints being pointed to match the levels.


www.stone-circle.com www.tomorrowstileandstone.co.uk


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