Client: RHONDDA HOSPITAL, South Wales
Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom
Completion date: 2010
Artwork budget: $175,000
Project Team
Artist
Martin Donlin
Martin Donlin Limited
Architect
Nightingale Associates
Nightingale Associates
Industry Resource
Glasmalerei Peters Studios
Glasmalerei Peters Studios
Overview
3 windows each 8 metres high X 3 metres wide
Antique handmade mouth blown glass acid etched and painted, bonded to toughened safety glass.
Goals
The 3 windows are based on individual themes: the healing process, the Rhondda Valley and River and finally the local community.
Process
I visited the old Rhondda Hospital to consult with both patients and staff regarding the design process. Leaf and plant forms are used as a reference to historical healing properties together with small multi coloured capsule and tablet images to represent man made medicine. A serpent inspired shape is evocative of the Rhondda River and acts as a metaphor for Aesculapius, with a serpent entwined around a staff as his attribute.
Additional Information
Finally the third window includes thousands of tiny human figure forms to represent the community. All the figures are from drawings made by myself and the community in Rhondda.