Renowned local sculptor and friend of The Cornfield Project, Sara Cunningham-Bell, has been hard at work creating a new breed of insect to watch over and protect our precious plant and animal life here at The Cornfield Project.
Sara, whose previous work includes commissions from America, Canada and other parts of the UK, recently installed a 90 metre long public sculpture at Ulster Rugby’s Kingspan Stadium. However with personal connections to The Cornfield Project, Sara wanted to create something special to showcase how art can be used to inspire and educate the local community and visitors alike.
From attending a local community workshop with BASE, it was agreed that Sara’s sculpture should combine different parts our beasties here at The Cornfield Project, from the antennae of a slater and centipede to the wings of a lacewing and horse fly with the body of a grasshopper.
Insect life thrives here at The Cornfield Project – Invertebrate, vertebrate, pollinator, winged, hard backed, long legged… we have them all however Sara wanted to create a new breed of insect. An abstract, now only to be found on this local site, with its own neighbourhood story. So over the summer Sara and her team of “volunteers” have been busy gathering materials to start bringing this iconic sculpture to life!
Then with anticipation growing here at The Cornfield Project, Sara and her team started to introduce ‘George’ to his new environment.
On Saturday 10th September 2016, George will stand proudly over The Cornfield Project as we officially open to the public. Made from 12mm steel, standing three metres tall with two types of locally grown willow weaved into his sides, George represents all the differing shapes and sizes of insect life found here at The Cornfield Project.
We would like to extend a massive thank you to Sara Cunningham-Bell for all the blood, sweat and toil no doubt required to bring George to life. To BASE for providing the initial inspiration for this sculpture and to both communities of Ballysally and Millburn who were always on hand to lend their support.
We are extremely proud to welcome George to his new home at The Cornfield Project and invite everyone to come along to enjoy him for yourselves.
