The Sky Begins At My Feet (The Wrekin project)

Last year, I and the rest of the Wellington Arts Collective (a recently formed collective of artists living in or near the Shropshire town of Wellington in Telford) were commissioned by the Telford and Wrekin Council to create a public art piece at the summit of the largest local hill, The Wrekin. The commission was part of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022 legacy. 

'The Sky Begins At My Feet' (work-in-progress), ceramic tile installation atop the Wrekin, 2022

As well as being a celebration of the rich diversity and heritage of the area (being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and the most geologically rich site in the country) the art installation, titled ‘The Sky Begins At My Feet’, also had to have a practical function. It had to serve as protection for the eroding base of the trig point at the peak of The Wrekin. 

pre-fired clay tile intended for the Wrekin project, by artist Wayne Chisnall, 2022

Our solution (devised by local ceramics artist, Sharon Griffin) was to create a tiled step/platform around the base of the trig point. The platform was made of concrete but the cladding was of hand-made ceramic tiles – all made through workshops that we ran with local artists, community groups and school children.

'The Sky Begins At My Feet', ceramic tile installation (by Wellington Art Collective) atop the Wrekin, 2022

As is often the case with these sort of commissions, the deadline for completion was extremely tight, with just a few weeks from receiving the commission to having to have it installed. But we all pulled together as a group and managed to finish installing it in the autumn. Oddly enough, the official unveiling ceremony for ‘The Sky Begins At My Feet’ fell on the very same day that the Queen died. 

ceramic tile for the Wrekin project, by artist Wayne Chisnall, 2022

For my part in the project I made a few clay tiles, mostly inspired by my interest in nature (mainly of the vines that I source from local woodland). However, the only tile I made that was able to be fired and glazed in time to but used in the installation was one that depicted the Earth and a pair of crossed spanners. Mimicking the format of a skull and cross bones, the tile was intended to act as a warning, with the spanners referencing the region’s kick-starting of the industrial revolution (and the resulting climate change that we now face) and the Earth symbolising nature.

5 pre-fired clay tiles intended for the Wrekin project, by artist Wayne Chisnall, 2022