Rusting metal and discarded glass once destined for landfill dumps have been transformed into a beautiful sculpture that will be a centrepiece of a major arts event in Basildon.
The sculpture by Basildon artist Simon Eastlake has
been commissioned by Square Halo, a new Basildon-based graphic design company,
and will be one of the highlights of the forthcoming Basildon Art Challenge exhibition.
With the overall theme of the exhibition "Basildon is the green place to be" Simon, aged 31, is hoping to make rival exhibitors "green" with envy over his "Mother Nature" sculpture. With the help of friends, Simon scavenged across the district for suitable scrap such as aluminium, iron, copper and steel to transform into this bust of a woman.
The Basildon Art Challenge, which will run from May 30 to June 8, is being designed and built by Square Halo's sister company, Mansfields. Both companies are based at Bentalls in Basildon.
Square Halo Creative Director Grant Harris, who is also one of the designers of the exhibition to be staged in a special area of the Eastgate Shopping Centre, said: Mother Nature was created from recyclable metal and it is a complicated design.
"It is better to have created this thing of beauty than for the metal and glass to have gone to landfill and it sets the theme for the Art Challenge."
Mansfields' Project Manager for the event is Mike Hayward. He said: "We are responsible for designing and building the exhibition and we hope it will be supported by about 50 local companies. It is a chance for them all to show how they feel about the environment and their town."
The 10-day event for the visual arts, which is expected to attract 100,000 people, is being staged in the Eastgate from May 30 to June 8. It is being jointly organised by the Basildon Arts Trust, Eastgate and the Basildon Green Business Forum which is an initiative of Basildon District Council.
Exhibits can be paintings in any medium; photography; sculpture; or short video or film presentations. Exhibits will be grouped into categories for under 16s, over 16s and professional artists.
Colin Stroud of the Basildon Green Business Forum said: "The expected attendance is 100,000 people over the 10 open days. This is an opportunity for local businesses to promote themselves through the medium of art to the people of Basildon.
"On show will be a collection of visual art - each one chosen and exhibited by a local business - produced by local people that will show how environmentally-friendly Basildon is becoming.
"Each business is free to select the piece of art to exhibit from an employee
chosen through an internal competition; a local school; or a commission to a
local artist."
The Basildon Art Challenge is timed to coincide with World Environment Day on
June 5.
